Shadow the Hedgehog: The Anniversary
by MetalShadowXIII
Summary: Sequel to Shadow the Hedgehog (the game). It has been one year since the Black Arms alien invasion. However, the peaceful times have come to an end for Shadow, as a new, more powerful evil has arrived in his world, and what's worse, even G.U.N. has turned against him. What does fate have in store for the Ultimate Life-Form? Rated M for violence, swearing and some mature themes.
1. A New Enemy

Actt I: A New Enemy

Phase 1: That Fateful Day

Shadow was at a bar one night, drinking to minimize the intense pain of his loss. 51 years ago today, his closest friend Maria was killed by the military. Her death was in the distant past, but the pain was still fresh in his mind. It was just a year ago that he defeated the alien warlord Black Doom and saved the planet single-handedly. About 8 months ago, during the Solaris incident, he set aside his thirst for revenge and decided to work together with G.U.N. for the greater good, aka ripping Solaris a new one. However, he still felt empty inside. "Why won't this damn pain go away already?", Shadow sighed as he took his eighth shot of whiskey. Shadow had started drinking heavily in an attempt to fill the void in his soul caused be losing Maria. Well, it wasn't really a void, more like a gigantic crater. He never had a true friend since Maria passed away. Rouge worked with Shadow in the past and looked out for him a few times; she even warned him that he could become an alcoholic if he kept drinking so goddamn much. But Shadow didn't really give two shits about her. "_She's just a dumb materialistic slut._", said Shadow in his head. "_If I wasn't here, she'd gladly whore herself out for a Chaos Emerald or two._" Omega was admittedly pretty cool, but he was a robot and he didn't fully understand the complexities of human (and hedgehog) emotion. Still, when Omega was on the battlefield, all hell broke loose. If Eggman had actually finished upgrading him, figuratively speaking, he'd be a fully functional 300 mph rape train with no brakes. Out of all the people he knew, Omega was probably the one who had the most in common with Shadow, but it just wasn't the same as having Maria around." I just want this day to be over already." he groaned. Shadow was about to ask the bartender for another shot when a familiar face appeared; it was the Commander.

Phase 2: The Encounter

"Why hello there Shadow! What brings you here today" he asked in a sarcastic tone of voice. Shadow looked up at the Commander. "I'm not in the mood for games Commander; if you don't have something important to say to me, then get the hell out of my face!" "Oh, but I do", the Commander said, holding a photo in his hand. "Does THIS look familiar to you?" he said, pushing the photo in Shadow's face. The photo showed a black hedgehog with a Chaos Emerald in hand, standing in some sort of military base with a dozen or so bodies on the floor behind him. "What's this supposed to be?" Shadow asked, confused. "Don't play dumb with me," said the Commander angrily. "It's photo evidence of you breaking into a military base and stealing a Chaos Emerald. There's no talking your way out of this one, you spiky little bastard. If you confess to your crimes here and now, I'll spare your life and simply have you thrown into an underground isolation cell for the rest of your days. If not, then I'll have you executed for high treason!" Six soldiers marched into the bar with shotguns drawn as he said this. Shadow stood up, a bit wobbly, but firmly and said "This is your last warning.. I didn't do any of that shit. If you try to arrest me for something I didn't even do.. Then I wont hesitate to used deadly force to defend myself!" The civilians in the bar became frightened and fled the premises. The Commander grinned. "Heh, well I guess it's settled. Take him down, men. He's drunk, so his reaction time is slower than usual!". Boy, were they wrong. As soon as one soldier yelled "OPEN FIRE!", Shadow jumped back into the counter in a split second, pulled out two wine bottles and threw them, striking two of the six soldiers in the head and knocking them out. One unlucky bastard was hit in the eye with a large glass shard, blinding him. "FUCK! MY EYE! GAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!", he yelled out in pain. The searing pain caused him to spaz out with his shotgun on automatic, accidentally shooting and killing two of the other soldiers. One round was only an inch away from striking the Commander's head. The remaining soldier had to subdue him. Amidst the confusion, Shadow was able to escape out of a window and make his way onto the highway. The commander was enraged. He pulled out his communicator and relayed a message to the army: " Red alert status. Shadow has escaped and he's on the move. He is highly dangerous, maybe even more than normal because he's drunk and really pissed off. I want you to search every area within a 100 kilometer radius of here and make sure that you bring that little fucker back to me, dead or alive…"

"Preferably dead."

Phase 3: Escape

Shadow needed to get away from the army and fast. Drunk as he was, he was in no condition to take on hordes of G.U.N. soldiers. He was staggering down the highway which apparently had been closed down, since no vehicles were on it. Suddenly, 3 soldiers spotted Shadow and said "It's the hedgehog! Get him!" Shadow had no choice but to run from the soldiers but in his drunken state, he was unable to keep his balance and fell of the highway. He fell two stories and landed on his face, but it didn't hurt much because he's the Ultimate Life-form. Or maybe he was just that drunk. Eventually Shadow made his way to Central City, but little did he know that the army was waiting for him with tanks. He had no choice but to fight. "If you think you can take me then bring it on!" he yelled as he dashed into the fray. "_30-something soldiers and 4 tanks against one hedgehog... I like those odds_" Shadow smiled to himself. Even with his impaired judgment , he was more than able to hold his own against the soldiers because they were only human. Running through the city, Shadow used cars and street signs for cover and waited for the right time to strike. He got his chance when a lone soldier threw a smoke grenade and ran toward the hedgehog by himself. Shadow was able to disarm him with ease and put him out of his misery with a single AK-47 shot to the temple. The other soldiers watching thought it was over when they heard the shot. One soldier near the cloud of smoke yelled "He got him!" but then a bullet ripped through his face and he fell dead on the floor as Shadow jumped out of the plume of smoke, ready to begin his rampage. Shadow grabbed the dead soldier's automatic rifle and yelled out "Here we go again, motherfuckers!" He was too drunk to aim properly so he simply threw a flashbang charge and ran forward with his two guns on full auto, shooting in every direction. The screams of the downed soldiers indicated that he did hit a lot of them, but about 15 were still alive.

Shadow knew he had to take out the tanks first so he hastily devised a plan. "I know this is incredibly dangerous but it's just stupid enough to work." Shadow saw two tanks that were in close proximity, decided to take a gamble and jumped on top of one of them, shooting a pistol he grabbed off the ground. His plan was successful because the dumb fuck driving the other tank tried to shoot Shadow off the tank, but he just ended up killing his allies inside of it when Shadow jumped off right before the blast hit. The explosion provided the perfect cover to sneak into the other tank and kill its operators by snapping their necks. Hijacking a tank made everything that much easier. "Two down, two to go." Shadow didn't know how to use a tank so he just started pressing random buttons until something happened. The tank's cannon finally fired and killed 3 soldiers, blowing them to bits. "So that's the fire button, huh? Things just got a lot more interesting." Shadow started mashing the fire button and firing in every direction, but... he kinda missed every shot since honestly, he knows about as much about tanks as Big the Cat knows about proper dietary habits. He got one lucky kill when a building he shot at collapsed and crushed a soldier standing below. The soldiers were panicking and thought it was a hardware malfunction until they realized it was Shadow who was inside the tank. "Take that fucker down, NOW!", yelled a lieutenant. The remaining two tanks aimed their cannons at Shadow and one soldier came out packing a Javelin ATGM rocket launcher. Shadow knew he was at a disadvantage in such a slow vehicle and exited the tank before they fired on him. The soldier with the rocket launcher took aim at Shadow and it would have been certain death for the hedgehog but Shadow yelled out "Chaos... Reflector!" and put up a luminescent shield around himself that reflected the rocket back at the soldier, literally blowing his head off his shoulders. Shadow heard the lieutenant saying from the tank, "I've called for reinforcements! Hold the line until they arrive. It's just one hedgehog, we can take him!" Shadow knew he was in deep shit. His new technique wasn't suited for reflecting projectiles from multiple directions and he was unarmed and exhausted from the battle. Plus, his vision was beginning to blur and he started to lose his balance again.

Just when Shadow was about to run and hide somewhere, a laser suddenly shot right through the looking hole of the lieutenant's tank and melted this head instantly. Another laser ripped through the tank and blew it to bits. Shadow was dazed and confused until something that he never expected to see burst straight out of the fourth tank. It was a Shadow Android. The soldiers probably pissed their pants at the sight of it, I don't blame them. One of them shouted "Two of them? There's no way we can win this! We're fucking dead! RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU UUUUUUUUUUN!" The surviving soldiers began to run for their lives when a second Shadow Android flew in and used its palm laser blades to make cold cuts out of the defenseless soldiers. Shadow stared dumbfounded as he watched the slaughter. "The doctor sent these to assist me? That's not like him at all...", he thought. But the Androids started walking towards him with their blades drawn and Shadow knew they wanted him dead too. Things just got a hell of a lot more complicated.

Phase 4: The Struggle

Shadow began fighting the androids, but he knew something was off. These androids were faster and more powerful than the ones he fought before. During the alien invasion incident, he had numerous conflicts with Eggman in which he destroyed the Androids with relative ease. But these two were different. "New models?",Shadow thought. But he didn't have any time to think because these fuckers were out for blood. One Android was charging at Shadow swinging at him with its laser blades and the other was firing beams at him from a distance. The Android with the blades was in a frenzy, aiming right for Shadow's neck. He would have sliced off Shadow's head if he hadn't moved out of the way just in time. The second fired a laser at him, and Shadow deflected it with his Chaos Reflector, but the android was still fast enough to dodge. "Nearly perfect teamwork, impressive speed and strength, and they know how to hit all the vital spots... Even I'm having trouble keeping up with them. I better get rid of them quick or I don't think I'll get out of here in one piece." The Androids were closing in on him. They jumped at Shadow with their palm laser blades activated at maximum power, which made them about the length of their bodies. Shadow grinned. "CHAOS... BLAST!" Shadow unleashed a burst of energy that sent the Androids flying. He thought he got rid of them too, but they got up and started walking even though they were heavily damaged. "What the fuck? What'll it take to kill you ?" Shadow yelled.

A voice in the distance said "Stop." The androids stopped their attack and just stood looking at Shadow as a third Android descended from the sky. "Goddammit! What the fuck is up with these things?" Shadow yelled angrily. Something felt off about this Android. Shadow could feel an aura of cold darkness around it. But it didn't look any different from the others, besides having a minigun mounted on his right arm. "We meet again Shadow", said the third Android. "Who the fuck are you?" Shadow asked. "Hehehe..." the android smiled menacingly. "I guess I'll tell you then." He deactivated what seemed to be a cloaking device and showed his true colors: Red with black stripes, like Shadow's colors only in reverse. "I am Metal Shadow", said the clone menacingly. "Metal Shadow?" Shadow was absolutely dumbfounded. "Allow me to test your strength." said Metal Shadow as he lunged toward him.

Phase 5: The Strongest Copy

Metal Shadow was much stronger than the other two androids. For the first time in his life, Shadow was getting his ass handed to him. Metal Shadow's Hyper Thrusters made him fast enough to dodge all of Shadow's attacks and retaliate with frightening accuracy. He pounded Shadow with a flurry of blows and slammed him against the pavement. "Is that all?", taunted the android. "You don't know the half of it!",growled Shadow as he pulled a stop sign out of the ground and slammed it over Metal Shadow's head, but the sign was the only thing that broke. He didn't have a scratch on him. Metal Shadow just sighed, disappointed, and kicked Shadow into the side of a building. He began flying toward Shadow, ready to attack when Shadow used his Chaos Blast. Metal Shadow just shook his head and silently said "Chaos Blast..." He sent a huge wave of jet black energy toward Shadow, wiping out his red Chaos Blast and sending the hedgehog careening into a glass and ceramic pottery shop. Metal Shadow slowly walked into the ruined shop in pursuit of Shadow. "Is this the true extent of your power...? Disappointing indeed." said the android as he picked up Shadow by the neck. Shadow had cut himself on the glass and was bleeding. "Shall we end this?" said Metal Shadow as he picked up Shadow and flew into the air holding him. "You two", he called the damaged androids over. "Slice him to pieces." said Metal Shadow as he lifted Shadow in the air. The androids flew toward Shadow, blades ready. Shadow nearly gave up hope when suddenly Sonic and Tails appeared just in time, spin dashing into the androids and knocking their heads off. Metal Shadow flew back and dropped Shadow, but Tails caught him and brought him down to the ground gently. Shadow was amazed. "S-Sonic?" he asked? "Yup, it's me.", Sonic said. "Long time no see!"

Phase 6: Friends in High Places

Shadow was battered, bloody, and drunk off his ass, but you can't keep the Ultimate Life-form down for long. Sonic and Tails were backing him up, so now it was three against one. Shadow was curious however. "Sonic, how did you defeat those androids so easily?" he asked. "Well it was easy. The head is their weak point. Remove their heads, and they're just heaps of scrap metal!" Sonic said. "It worked on the four we fought before we found you, too, so I guess that's a pretty good game plan, dontcha think?" Shadow nodded. Metal Shadow just laughed. "That trick won't work on me; I'm much more carefully constructed than those androids. They're like children's toys compared to me." Sonic walked toward Metal Shadow. "I don't know who you are or where you came from but I can't just let you do as you please with this city. We're taking you down here and now!" "Hehehe..." Metal Shadow laughed. "I'd love to erase you from existence now, but my plans won't allow me to stay here any longer. Plus, the military has already entered the city with reinforcements and I've just reached my kill quota for this operation. _"Au revoir,"_ said the android as he flew away from the city at mach speed. "We'll meet again soon enough."  
Shadow wanted to chase after that bastard and tear him apart, but the army had just closed in on them and they were surrounded. "Surrender now or we will use excessive deadly force." , a voice said over the intercom. "This is your first and only warning." Shadow grunted under his breath "Damn, how are we supposed to get out of this one?" Tails wasn't worried in the slightest. "Don't worry", the fox said. "I came prepared." He pulled a radio control device out of his backpack and pressed the red button in the middle. Suddenly a yellow and gray jet flew in overhead. "This is my new high-speed stealth jet, the X Divider!" said Tails proudly. "Get in and let's get out of here." Tails, Shadow and Sonic jumped into the jet and got ready to escape, but the army wasn't going to let them. "Open fire!" said a general. The tanks fired, but the jet was too fast and they missed. "You guys better cover your ears", Tails warned Sonic and Shadow. "Why do we need to do that?" Shadow asked. "This is why!" yelled Tails as he flipped a switch and a high-pitched, grating wail echoed around the area. "What the fuck is your problem, kid?" asked Shadow angrily. Tails didn't have time to answer as he activated the cloaking device and they flew away from the city unseen at top speed. "Damn it", said a general as he slammed his fist on the control panel of his tank. "We have to track them down! After them!" "B-But… they aren't even showing up on radar!" said one soldier. The general was dumbfounded. Shadow escaped from their grasp yet again.

Phase 7: A Reluctant Alliance

"Okay, you can stop covering your ears now." said Tails as he flipped the switch to the off position. "What was that about, Tails?" asked Sonic. "It was a radar jamming signal", Tails said. "No one can track us when it's activated, but it's pretty annoying to have it buzzing in your ears." "Thanks…" said Shadow reluctantly. "No problem, Shadow! We never leave a friend behind." replied Sonic. "Since you guys saved me, you're basically enemies of the government now. Where do you plan to hide out?" But Tails seemed to be prepared for everything. " Don't worry, I have a secret hideout on a deserted island. I'll take you there and we can talk some more." They entered the secret hideout and began planning their next move. "Why are those androids attacking the city, Shadow?" "I don't know" , said Shadow. "But it seems like they're trying to frame me for the killings and turn everyone against me, just like a year ago. If that's the case, I'll just have to take on the androids and the Doctor myself. This approach will minimize casualties as well." Sonic stood up and pointed at Shadow. "You can't do that by yourself. You might have saved the world once, but this time you're up against an even more dangerous enemy! Now you need your friends to back you up!" Shadow was pissed. "You're just not getting it, dammit! Unless you're prepared to kill when the situation calls for it, then you're nothing more than dead weight in a combat situation." Sonic was disappointed in Shadow. He tried to convince him otherwise "Killing isn't the answer, Shadow. You can't just solve all your problems with a gun and a few rounds. You gotta negotiate with your enemies to solve conflicts. If you keep killing soldiers, then you'll never be anything more than a common criminal." Shadow laughed sarcastically and pointed at Sonic. "Look at this stupid fuck. He actually thinks you can avoid conflict with armed soldiers by 'negotiating'. What a fucking joke." Tails agreed with Sonic. "He's right Shadow. If you keep killing people, then even more will come looking for revenge. It's a vicious cycle of death, pain and despair!" Shadow was pissed. "Dammit! You guys are fucking useless. I'm outta here. I'm gonna… uhhhh…" Shadow collapsed on the floor before he could finish his sentence. Sonic jumped up out of his seat and rushed to Shadow's side. "Shadow! Answer me! Wake up, Shadow!" Sonic yelled for Shadow to wake up, but his cries fell on deaf ears.

Phase 8: Lucky Break

Shadow woke up the next day with one hell of a hangover. He went to the bathroom to throw up and when he walked out he saw Tails waiting for him. "Good morning, Shadow." He offered Shadow a towel and some orange juice. Shadow didn't accept either of them and just asked "Where's Sonic?" Tails shook his head. "He's not here. He went ahead to Angel Island to tell Knuckles and Rouge about the situation and see if they can help. You're not in any condition to go after him, so just stay here for now. Besides, I'm currently analyzing the hard drive I picked up from one of the androids yesterday." Shadow grumbled. "Fine", he said under his breath. Shadow walked into the lounge and turned on the TV. The news was on and the headline was "Black Hedgehog Strikes Again." Already people knew about the events of yesterday. Pictures and clips showing the total devastation were shown and Shadow was convinced everyone thought he was the culprit. The 6 Shadow Androids who attacked Central City had organized their attack so that only one of them was in a single area at a time, and when there were two or more androids in a single place, like the battle against the army, they made sure to leave no survivors.

Shadow knew that the odds of clearing his name would be less than zero if these attacks continued. This was one sticky situation. Suddenly a breaking news report came on and showed what looked to be Metal Shadow fighting Eggman's robots near an abandoned town. Residents of the adjacent city were advised to evacuate in order to avoid heavy casualties. "What? This doesn't make any fucking sense at all!" Shadow yelled. "What happened" shouted Tails from the other room. "It's Metal Shadow and he's attacking Eggman's robots!" replied Shadow. "No way!" Tails was shocked. Shadow began getting ready to leave. "No, Shadow", shouted Tails. "You still havent recovered yet!" Shadow wasn't listening. "This is my only chance to get some answers about Metal Shadow. I have to go". Tails reluctantly agreed "Fine, but I'm coming too. The analysis is finished and I want to see exactly what Metal Shadow's specs are." Shadow nodded in agreement and the two headed out.

Phase 9: Robot vs. Robot

Tails flew his X-Divider near the battle site and turned on the stealth cloaking after they got out, to make sure no one stole it or used it to track them down. In the distance they saw Metal Shadow, tearing through a battalion of Eggman's robots. Shadow and Tails got closer to the battle and were able to see the destruction firsthand. Metal Shadow seemed to have received an upgrade. He had two compact machine guns mounted on both arms and two laser cannons on his backpack. Eggman's outdated robots were no competition; they were reduced to scrap within minutes by Metal Shadow's impressive arsenal. Even Eggman himself in his upgraded Death Egg Robot was being pushed back and was forced to take a defensive position. Shadow ran in and attempted to attack Metal Shadow from behind. He kicked the android and sent him crashing into a building. Shadow was surprised that his attack connected, since Metal Shadow was incredibly fast the last time they fought. "It must be those new weapons he's equipped with. He probably weighs twice as much as he did last time."

Tails pulled out his Electro Pulse Blaster from his bag. "Shadow, you take point. I'll support you with covering fire!" Shadow nodded. Eggman relayed his orders to his remaining robots. "Don't attack Shadow and Tails. Focus your fire on the android! I know exactly what to do." Metal Shadow burst out of the ruined building, guns blazing. He mowed down about a dozen robots but when Shadow started attacking, he set his sights on him instead. He locked on and fired a volley of bullets toward Shadow while hovering through the air, but Shadow was too fast to actually hit. Shadow hit the android with a combination of lightning fast punches and kicks, ending with an axe kick that slammed Metal Shadow into the ground. Although Metal Shadow had a variety of long range weapons, with his current upgrade, he couldn't fight effectively at close range. He flew into the air at Shadow, but the lasers fired by Eggman's robots forced him to move out of the way. When Metal Shadow jumped back, he was hit in the back by a charge shot from Tails's Electro Pulse Blaster, visibly damaging him and causing him to him fall to the ground.

Tails thought it was over, but Metal Shadow stood up, readied his guns and laser cannons, and said in a cold, robotic voice: "Full Burst." The android unloaded what seemed to be all of his ammo in one destructive assault. Bullets were flying everywhere, lasers vaporized cars and street fixtures, and entire buildings crumbled into dust. "Holy shit" said Shadow as he stared wide-eyed at the horrific spectacle of destruction. Once his attack ended, Eggman's entire squad of robots was reduced to spare parts and the whole city was leveled. If there were people inside any of the buildings, they probably weren't doing so hot right now. Eggman took cover but even his Death Egg Robot was badly damaged and missing one arm. However Metal Shadow stopped briefly as steam billowed out of his metal frame. He seemed to have overheated, and Eggman knew this was the perfect time to strike. "RETURN TO DUST!", he yelled as he fired an anti-tank missile from his personal robot's arm and decimated Metal Shadow in spectacular fashion. Once the smoke cleared, Eggman had abandoned his robot and exited the area.

Phase 10: Searching for Answers

Something just wasn't right. It seemed unlikely that the killing machine Shadow had faced yesterday would go down this easily. And what reason would Metal Shadow have for turning against the doctor? Nothing about this situation made a bit of fucking sense. Tails was over by the android's damaged head, which seemed to be the only part of its body that wasn't obliterated by the missile. It seemed as if his analysis was complete. "What have you found out?" Shadow asked. Tails frowned. "Well I have some bad news. For one, this isn't the real Metal Shadow." Shadow gritted his teeth in frustration. "The results of my analysis have determined that this android is structurally similar to the ones from before. The model number is SA-02HW(C) and it's a Shadow Android Heavy Weapons type. Judging from the sloppy nature of its attacks and that one glaring design flaw, it seems it's also a prototype. But enough of this, we need to ask the doctor what's going on." Tails and Shadow walked into the abandoned town in search of Eggman. But there was nothing to be found at all. Nothing but cold loneliness. From the looks of things, the town hadn't been inhabited by anyone in 5 years. Shadow was about to give up and go home when Tails spotted one of Eggman's robots carrying a steel support beam. "Quick, follow him!" whispered Tails to Shadow. "But make sure they don't spot you." The duo followed behind stealthily until the robots led them to a meat processing plant.

Phase 11: Slaughterhouse

Tails and Shadow entered the plant and tried to find a light switch somewhere since it was pitch-black inside. "What's that smell?" Shadow asked. "Well this is a meat processing plant, so that's probably raw meat you're smelling.", Tails explained. Shadow could see something that looked like a conveyor belt but he couldn't make it out in the darkness. "Found it!" Tails said as he flipped the light switch. Suddenly the truth was revealed. There were robots being transported on the conveyor belt along with the meat. "The hell is going on in here?" Shadow asked. "I'm glad you asked", replied Dr. Eggman watching from the other side of the room standing next to a sinister-looking robot. "I'm using this factory and the spare parts from the abandoned town to build my robots cheaply and easily. And it seemed like such a nice plan, until you little bastards found this place. But I'm sure I can take care of that quite easily." Eggman jumped into the cockpit of his robot, the Egg Butcher. It was a massive, heavily armored robot with shoulder mounted turrets, huge knives in each hand, saws on its feet, and a maniacal grin worthy of a psychotic serial killer. It also had a chef's hat on its head and an apron over its body, which was a pretty nice touch. "Prepare to meat your doom, Shadow!" said the doctor menacingly. He swung the massive knife at Shadow, but Shadow was able to dodge it. "Tails, how should we deal with this one?" Shadow asked. "I don't know but it looks insanely dangerous! I wouldn't recommend going up against it at close range…" Tails was shuddering with fear as he tried to aim at the Egg Butcher from a distance. He shot, but he missed. Shadow was dodging the knives and running away to higher ground so he could attack from above. "Oh no you don't!" yelled the doctor as he activated the turrets. Shadow ran as fast as he could in order to evade the shots. Eggman just kept firing. "You meddlesome pest! Once I'm done with you, you'll be filled with more holes than a block of swiss cheese!" Shadow grabbed a large slab of meat and used it for cover. He also took a robot's laser from the conveyor belt and started firing. However, he wasn't aiming at Eggman. He was aiming at various fixtures on the ceiling in order to make them fall on top of the robot. Eggman noticed this. "How dare you destroy my facility!" The doctor yelled. He shot at the stairs Shadow was running on and he fell through onto the ground in front of the robot. But just as he did that, a downed robot Shadow shot at fell from the ceiling, and slammed into the Egg Butcher's face, breaking its left eye. Eggman's peripheral vision was now halved. "I'll grind you into paste!" said the doctor angrily as the Egg Butcher stomped on the ground, nearly crushing Shadow. Shadow rolled out of the way, but the circular saw on the robot's foot slashed into his back. However, that distraction provided the perfect cover for Tails to fire a charge shot and blow out the turret on the robot's right arm. "Grrrr… I nearly forgot about you. Take this!" said Eggman as he launched the mech's foot mounted saw blade directly at Tails. Tails just barely dodged in time. If he had been a second slower, both his tails would have been sawed off. Eggman decided to close the gap and activated high speed mode, flying toward Tails and frantically swinging the robot's huge knives. Tails was able to dodge but he hit a conveyor belt and fell to the floor. Eggman had him in his sights. "Any last words before I make cold cuts out of you?" asked Eggman menacingly. Tails tried to fire his Electro Pulse Blaster but the it needed time to charge so he couldn't fire it now. "I'll take that as a no, then." Eggman raised the robot's right arm and got ready to strike. Shadow looked for anything close to him that he could use as a weapon, but all he found was a crowbar lying next to him. Thinking on his feet, Shadow threw the crowbar into the robot's right shoulder joint and it stuck in nicely. "NOW DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Eggman shouted maniacally, as he swung the robot's massive knife down, but the crowbar caused the right arm to jam in place and he stopped in his tracks. "Damn you, Shadow! I'll skin you alive!" Eggman shouted angrily. He turned around and fired the second foot mounted circular saw blade but Shadow dodged using his superior speed. Tails's blaster had charged and it had enough energy for one last shot. He fired it at the hand on Egg Butcher's working arm, causing it to break and drop the knife. "Shadow, now!" Tails yelled. Shadow ran towards the Egg Butcher and spin dashed into it's head, destroying it. Sparks were flying everywhere as the robot exploded. Eggman ejected from the cockpit and escaped into a nearby junkyard.

Phase 12: Unexpected Surprise.

"Wait! We still have questions to ask you!", Tails shouted after Dr. Eggman." But Eggman paid no heed and flew off in his cruiser. "Leave him be", Shadow told Tails. "We lost the Doctor, but we gained something equally important." Shadow picked up the Chaos Emerald from the Egg Butcher's wreckage. "A Chaos Emerald, huh?" Tails just received a call from Sonic. "Sonic says he has Knuckles and he's back at the hideout. Lets go meet up with them. Tails and Shadow flew back to the hideout with their jet and they met with Sonic and Knuckles. When they got there, sonic was playing the PS3 and Knuckles was eating. "Guys this is no time for playing around!", Tails yelled. "We've found a Chaos Emerald!" "Good job Tails, Shadow." Sonic said. "We would have been there to back you up, but Knuckles just had to go get that Philly cheesesteak…" Knuckles was angry. "Fuck you, Sonic. Philly cheesteaks are way better then chili dogs.", Knuckles said with food in his mouth. He was about to start on his second Philly cheesesteak but Shadow stopped him. "We need to get our asses in gear. I have a Chaos Emerald but no leads. That means we have some detective work to do.", Shadow said. Knuckles was confused. "You mean…" Shadow nodded. "Yeah. We should get in touch with the Chaotix." "Okay then, it's settled", said Knuckles. "Lets go back to Angel Island since it's like half of the way to the Chaotix Headquarters. We'll meet up with Rouge." Shadow was confused. "Why are you hanging out with Rouge." "Why not?" asked Knuckles. "Because she'll steal your shit." Shadow replied. "If I were you, I'd keep all your valuables locked up tight." "Knuckles just laughed. "I don't even have to worry about that. The army came and installed a state-of-the-art security system on Angel Island to protect the Master Emerald. Not even Rouge could break in there if she wanted to. As a matter of fact, I hardly even have to worry about my job anymore. Most of these days I'm just sparring with security robots and playing Street Fighter." Shadow chuckled "Heh… I guess I'll take your word for it." Sonic, Shadow, Tails and Knuckles flew to Angel Island. They reached the entrance and saw Rouge waiting for them. Sonic asked her, "What's up Rouge?" Rouge said "The Master Emerald was stolen." Knuckles dropped his Philly cheesesteak and stared at her in shock.

Phase 13: Phantom Thief

Knuckles grabbed Rouge by the neck and started choking her. "How is that even possible? Don't tell me you're behind this!" Sonic stopped Knuckles. "Don't do anything drastic, Knuckles. I'm sure she can explain." Knuckles let Rouge go, but Rouge was pretty pissed off. "Don't put your hands on me you bastard." she said as she dusted herself off. "I was watching the Emerald but I had to go to the bathroom. When I came back, it was just gone…" Knuckles was even angrier now. "What do you mean it was just gone? What kind of stupid motherfucker do you think I am?" Rouge just laughed. "Well maybe if you did your job instead of lounging around playing Dead or Alive Beach Volleyball, then things like this wouldn't happen." Knuckles's face turned red. "I told you not to tell anyone about that…" he said, visibly embarrassed. Everyone else was laughing, except Shadow because he recognized the seriousness of the situation. "Shut up, you idiots." , Shadow interjected. "Knuckles, you said that you had a security system recently installed. Let's check the security cameras for evidence." Knuckles and the others went into the room with the security control panel and he checked the recordings. "That's weird", Knuckles said, puzzled. "I don't see anyone here. None of the switches were flipped and no doors were breached. I don't know how anyone could have just waltzed in here and stolen the Master Emerald undetected. " But Shadow saw something on the screen displaying the Master Emerald's chamber "What the hell? Look, some kind of portal is opening up!" Everyone looked at the recording and saw a strange portal opening up in the Master Emerald's chamber and something was coming out. They saw the true culprit … Metal Shadow. Shadow's jaw dropped. "No way…" Metal Shadow and a group of Shadow Androids appeared out of the portal and quickly carried the Master Emerald into it with them, carefully avoiding tripping any alarms, and disappeared into some unknown location. Knuckles punched the wall in anger. "This is insane. He just warped in here in broad daylight, at the exact moment when no one was watching and stole it within a few minutes. I can't believe this actually happened!" Tails was amazed. "It's like he knew exactly when to strike.", he said. Shadow knew what to do. "Guys, listen. We need to find Eggman. He's the only person who could have access to this kind of tech." Knuckles agreed. "Once I find that bastard, I'm going to beat his ass into the next millennium!" Knuckles said, clenching his fists. "Then it's settled, said Tails. "We'll go back to that junkyard Eggman escaped to. I don't think he could have gone far. Come on, guys!" They agreed, and Knuckles, Sonic, Tails, and Shadow hopped into the X-Divider, with Rouge staying behind to watch over the place. Shadow couldn't shake the feeling that something sinister was about to happen…


	2. The True Face of Evil

Act II: The True Face of Evil

Phase 1 : Pursuit

Sonic, Shadow, Tails and Knuckles flew to the junkyard Eggman escaped into and started scouting out the area. "Be on your guard", Shadow warned. "You don't know what the Doctor could be planning." The heroes cautiously explored the junkyard, looking for any clues and keeping an eye out for any signs of Eggman. But they didn't find anything. As they proceeded further into the depths of the junkyard, they could feel hatred and bloodlust emanating from the area. "I've got a bad feeling about this…", said Sonic nervously. Tails was checking out a pile of junk for anything salvageable when he tripped and fell and a loud beeping noise that seemed to be coming from the ground. Without a second to spare, Sonic ran in and grabbed Tails right before the ground he was standing on exploded. It was a landmine. "Thanks, Sonic. If it wasn't for you I'd be a goner", said Tails nervously. "Heh, No problem", Sonic replied. "But keep your eyes out for other traps, okay?" Just as he said that, a dark figure in the shadows tossed a hand grenade at Knuckles. "GRENAAAAAAAAAAAAAADE!" Shadow yelled. Knuckles saw it and jumped out of the way a second before the blast. "Holy shit, that could have killed me." said Knuckles. Shadow was convinced that someone was out to kill them. "We're not alone. Somebody's after us and it may or may not be Eggman. I say we split up in groups of two; that way we'll be able to cover more ground and it'll be easier to find the attackers." Sonic nodded. "Okay, Shadow, but I don't want you getting into any trouble.", nagged the hedgehog. Shadow was irritated. "How about you take that self-righteous, goodie-two-shoes attitude of yours and shove it up your ass. Knuckles, you're coming with me. We'll take the left path; Sonic and Tails will take the right path."

Phase 2: Satan's Disciples

Shadow and Knuckles were exploring the area. They walked for about half a mile when suddenly they were ambushed. A guy with a rocket launcher fired at them from a few feet away but the two were fast enough to jump out of the way. Suddenly, 2 dozen gang members wearing black trench coats with red flame designs, ripped jeans, black bandannas and sunglasses appeared from their hiding places, heavily armed. "You know what do", Shadow said to Knuckles. Knuckles and Shadow ran in opposite directions to avoid fire. Knuckles grabbed a huge rock and threw it, taking out 2 or 3 guys who were camping behind a wall trying to snipe from a distance. Shadow ran behind one of the attackers, snapped his neck, and took his pistol, dragging his corpse along to use as a shield. With a well aimed shot to the forehead, he was able to kill a gang member and steal his M16 automatic rifle. Knuckles tried to hold back and avoid killing people unless necessary, but he accidentally punched one guy to hard and caused the bitch's skull to cave in. Knuckles just said "Fuck it." and continued to use deadly force. One gang member was pissed and he yelled. "What the fuck is up with this shit? It's 2 against 20, so KILL THOSE MOTHERFUCKERS NOW!" It was only a second later when Shadow shut him up by riddling his upper body with bullets. Knuckles made a particularly bold move, by grabbing one guy and using his body to beat his allies to death. It actually worked pretty well because once the guy died from massive upper body trauma, he was able to use him as a meat shield. Shadow took out 6 more gang members before his M16 ran out of ammo. One of the attackers yelled. "I GOTCHA NOW YOU LITTLE BITCH!" and opened fire with a Famas assault rifle. But he didn't know that Shadow could counter that. "Chaos Reflector!" Shadow reflected his bullets and caused the dumb fuck to shoot himself to death. After that, Shadow grabbed a sticky grenade out of the dead guy's trench coat and yelled "Surprise!" and threw it at a gang member's head. The guy shot himself in the head before it went off because he was gonna die anyway. Then 4 guys with AT4 rocket launchers took aim at Shadow. Knuckles yelled "Don't even try it!" and grabbed a broken down SUV and threw it at them. Once the SUV hit them, it exploded because the gas in the tank caught fire from the rocket launchers. The unlucky gang members were cooked like hamburgers on the Fourth of July. Shadow looked at one of the dead gang members' trench coats and saw the words "Satan's Disciples" written on it in flaming letters. "Satan's Disciples? Is that the name of their organization?" Shadow was about to slit a bitch's throat, but he pointed behind Shadow and said, "Oh shit… It's over…" in a terrified voice. Shadow turned around and saw 3 hedgehogs standing atop a heap of junk. "It's… the Three Kings of Hell!", said the downed gang member.

Phase 3: Hell Breaking Loose

Faster than Shadow could react, the dark blue hedgehog on top of the junk heap shot a bone spike at the injured gang member on the ground next to Shadow. It penetrated his head, killing him instantly. "Who are you people?" Shadow asked the hedgehogs. The dark blue one said "Allow us to introduce ourselves" as he bit off a chunk of a dead guy's disembodied hand and ate it. "We are the 3 Kings of Hell." He pointed at the purple girl hedgehog next to him and said "This is Violet, the Angel of Death." Violet was wearing a Victorian-style black dress with spiked high-heeled shoes, her hair was in a long ponytail and she had red teardrops tattooed under her eyes. Then he pointed at the grey hedgehog and said "This is Nero, the God of Destruction." Nero was a emotionless looking, tall, lean, yet muscular gray hedgehog with hair down to his soldiers. He wore a plain white sleeveless shirt, and ripped jeans and had tribal tattoos and bandages on his arms. Then the dark blue hedgehog pointed to himself and said "As for me… I am Satan's Right Hand! I have no real name, but you may call me Ragnarok." Ragnarok was a dark blue hedgehog with two black racing stripes in the middle of his head, kind of like Shadow's red stripe. He wore a black leather jacket, had a black spiked collar around his neck, and had the look of insanity on his face. "We've been part of Satan's Disciples since it began, 1 year ago, and we're some of the strongest members. I didn't expect to see you so soon, Shadow", Ragnarok said with an evil smile. Shadow asked "How do you know who I am?" Ragnarok just laughed and said "All in good time, Shadow. For now, let's play a little game, ok? The rules are simple: Whoever beats their opponent until they can't move anymore, wins! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Knuckles smacked his fists together. "I'm game", the echidna said with a smile. "That one looks pretty strong, so I'll take him!", Knuckles said while pointing at Nero. Nero just stared at Knuckles and looked at Ragnarok and then said in an emotionless voice, "If you will it, it shall be done." Knuckles charge at Nero and they both punched each other with at least a ton of force, the impact sent shockwaves throughout the junkyard. "Not bad", said Knuckles as he got up and shrugged off the impact. Meanwhile, Shadow was attacking Violet. She somehow managed to dodge all of his attacks with the knife. "How can she be dodging my every move?", thought Shadow to himself. He could see Violet in front of him, but he couldn't sense her at all. It was like he was stabbing at thin air. Shadow stabbed at Violet and she moved out of the way but he felt like he hit something, and his knife was stuck. Shadow blinked and when he opened his eyes he saw that his knife was stuck in a wall. "It's an illusion?" Shadow thought he was going crazy. "You're right, it is an illusion. However, knowing how my abilities work and knowing how to counter them are two different things." Violet disappeared for a moment and then multiple illusory copies of her appeared in front of Shadow. He had his work cut out for him.

Nero began shooting fireballs at Knuckles, but Knuckles just smacked them out of the way and kept charging at him. Knuckles punched Nero, but Nero parried his punch and pushed him back. "You're weak", Nero said to Knuckles. Knuckles just laughed. "Weak, huh? I'll show you weak." Knuckles dug into the ground and came back out with a massive chunk of rock and earth. "Try this on for size!" Knuckles yelled as he tossed the huge-ass rock at Nero. "What a joke", said Nero as he effortlessly broke the huge-ass rock into tiny pieces with one punch. But when the rubble cleared, Nero didn't see Knuckles in front of him. "Gotcha!" said Knuckles as he rushed at him from behind and punched him in the back of the head as hard as he could. Nero was sent flying and fell down to the ground with his neck twisted gruesomely to the side. "One down, two to go." said Knuckles triumphantly. But suddenly, Nero got up and repositioned his neck and head back in place. "No fucking way…", said Knuckles, shocked. Nero was apparently unfazed. "You really are a weakling.", Nero said, emotionless. But Knuckles wasn't backing down. "You know what, I'll have to use my ultimate technique to finish you off. It'll really blow you away!" Knuckles ran forward toward Nero, rotating his arm at a pace so fast, air friction caused it to catch fire. "Meteor Fist!" Nero didn't even attempt to dodge. Instead he just said "Allow me to show you what true power is." and intercepted with a punch of his own. It was so powerful that as their fists collided, the bones in Knuckles' right arm snapped under the pressure. Knuckles clutched his arm and screamed out in pain. Shadow saw what happened, but he didn't have time to help because he had an opponent of his own to deal with. He wondered why Ragnarok himself didn't try to join in the fight, but he didn't want to jinx himself so he went on fighting as usual. Nero said "I can see that this is the extent of your power. I don't waste time fighting for my own enjoyment, so I will end this fight now." He raised his arm and said "Hellfire." A wave of pitch black flames shot up from the ground and crept toward Knuckles. Knuckles jumped away before it could hit him. A corpse laying on the floor next to Knuckles was engulfed by the flames and turned to ashes within seconds. "Whatever you do, don't touch those flames!", Shadow shouted. Ragnarok took notice of this. "So, Nero wants to end this right now, huh? Fine, then. Everyone attack that red guy!" Nero shot fireballs of black flame at Knuckles and Ragnarok shot 3 bone stakes at him. There was a huge explosion. Shadow was sure he was dead. "Knuckles… no…" When the smoke cleared, Shadow saw a large green energy shield in front of Knuckles. Behind it, were none other than Silver and Blaze. "You three thought you could escape, but I've come from the future to punish you!" said Silver to the 3 hedgehogs.

Phase 4: An Unlikely Reunion

"Just stay here", Silver said to Knuckles. "You're in no condition to fight right now." Blaze nodded. "I'll take care of that flame guy.", she said. Ragnarok was intrigued. "So, you have some friends to help you, huh? It looks like I'll have to step into the ring now. I'm going to kill you of course, but before that, I plan to bring the most crushing despair into the depths of your soul!" He extended two bone blades out of his wrists and charged at Shadow. Shadow grabbed a metal pipe and used it to block his attack. Silver was fighting against Violet. He tried to pick her up and throw her with his psychic powers, but he didn't feel like he was picking up anything. "It must be some kind of illusion", Silver thought. Suddenly, Violet made 2 dozen illusion clones of herself and they charged at Silver. One of them punched him in the face and it actually hurt. "What the fuck? How can these illusions do damage to me?", Silver yelled. Violet smiled a kind of sad smile and said "There aren't just illusions. I would tell you what they are I think it would be more fun to let you figure it out." Silver got pissed off and used his telekinesis to pick up a huge pile of scrap and send it flying into the 2 dozen illusions. It wiped out the illusions but Violet escaped the attack until a loose wooden box flew out and hit her in the face, stunning her for a bit. Blaze fought against Nero and used her flames to block his black ones. "Not bad", Nero said. But how will you deal with this?" He raised a huge circular 10 foot wall of hell flames around himself and started walking slowly toward Blaze. Blaze knew touching those flames could probably kill her, so she had to find some way to avoid them. She looked around and saw an gas tank next to her, so she picked it up and threw it at Nero, causing a huge fucking explosion that would definitely kill a normal person. Nero, didn't die however, but he was burned pretty badly. "I underestimated your strength", Nero said as he struggled to get back up. Shadow was fighting Ragnarok and was impressed by his refined speed and nearly superhuman strength. "How can this hedgehog be so strong", he thought in his mind. Ragnarok saw an opening and kicked Shadow to the ground. He elongated his bone blade on his wrist and yelled. "Now, time for the finisher!" as he lunged at Shadow. But then Sonic came out of nowhere and kicked Ragnarok out of the way, sending him spiraling to the ground. "Good thing we didn't miss the party huh?", Sonic said with a smile. Sonic and Tails had returned. Suddenly, the battle was 6 against 3, with the odds in their favor. Ragnarok smiled. "It seems that we are outnumbered. Very well. Let's get the hell out of here, guys! As for you, Shadow, the next time we meet, I shall kill you and feast upon your flesh!" Nero snapped his fingers and caused a huge explosion, just big enough to provide cover for their escape. "Looks like they got away", Sonic said. "Oh hey there Silver, Blaze. I didn't expect to see you here!" Sonic shook Silver's hand. "We've got some catching up to do", said Silver. "But it's dangerous here, let's find a safer place." Sonic shook his hand. "There's a town near here. Let's go there and then we can talk."

Phase 5: Despair

Sonic, Shadow and the others entered the city, but when people saw Sonic, they started running and hid inside their houses. "What's up with these guys?", Sonic said. One man looked through his window with a sniper rifle, aiming it at Sonic. "Get out of our town, you bastards!" the man yelled. "You've caused enough death and destruction already!" Sonic was confused. "What are you talking about, old man?", he asked. But the man didn't even answer and shot at Sonic, but Sonic dodged it. "Calm down man, you don't need to shoot!" The old man was enraged. "DON'T TAUNT ME, MOTHER FUCKER!", he yelled. He started to reload but then an old lady walked up to Sonic and said. "You've got the wrong hedgehog. This one isn't Ragnarok." Sonic nodded. "Yeah, my name is Sonic the Hedgehog!" The old man was relieved. "Oh, sorry. We've seen another blue hedgehog working with that gang, so I wasn't sure. Anyway, enjoy your stay. The old lady turned to Sonic and said "If you need a place to stay, you can stay at my house. My name is Rosa." Sonic smiled. He said "Thanks Rosa." and they walked into her house. Knuckles still needed treatment for his broken arm. "Don't worry", Rosa said to Knuckles. "I'll put it in a cast and you should be fine as long as you don't partake in any strenuous physical activity. Just come with me." Knuckles followed her.

Sonic walked over to Silver. "What brings you here?", Sonic asked. "I'll just get to the point. Me and Blaze are after Eggman Nega, who used time travel to go to your time." said Silver. "Eggman Nega?", asked Shadow. "I thought he was dead." Blaze shook her head. "In the previous time stream, Iblis killed Eggman Nega. But now that he's erased from the space-time continuum, that never happened, and the current Eggman Nega is even more evil and ruthless than ever before." Shadow was surprised. He knew that messing with time travel could cause abnormalities in the time stream, but he didn't think things like this could happen. "What about those three hedgehogs we fought before? You seemed to be familiar with them." "We are", said Silver. "They're actually from the future." Shadow was really confused at this point. "How is that even possible? They said they started that gang a year ago?" Silver replied "Actually, Eggman Nega used his time machine to send them into the past 1 year before now. He sent Metal Shadow to the past around this time. Shadow was absolutely shocked. "WHAT THE FUCK? Don't tell me Eggman Nega created Metal Shadow?",SHadow blurted out in a rage. "Shadow, watch your language", scolded Sonic. Silver said "Yeah, Eggman Nega created him. I don't know what he's planning exactly, but it can't possibly be anything good." Shadow slammed his hand into the wall in anger. Shit just got real.

A few minutes later, Rosa walked into the living room with Knuckles. Knuckles's right arm was in a cast. "Thanks lady, you're a lifesaver", Knuckles said. "Don't mention it." Rosa replied. Sonic asked "How long has this gang been here?" Rosa answered, "About one year. They started dealing drugs and robbing people and sent the town into a panic. So much blood has been spilled, ever since that blue hedgehog showed up." That caught Sonic's interest. "What do you know about this hedgehog, exactly?", he asked. Rosa said "Well, his name is Ragnarok and he started the gang, but he's not the actual leader. His abilities are the most sinister of them all. Whenever he eats the flesh or drinks the blood of the dead, he gets more powerful. And he can use his own bones as weapons to slice up and impale innocent people. One of his nicknames is "The Grim Reaper". Some say he made a deal with the Devil himself to gain these abilities." Sonic said "Don't worry old lady. We'll get rid of these guys for you, so you can finally live without fear!" Shadow didn't believe what he was hearing. He pulled Shadow to the side and said "What the fuck do you think you're doing? We have a ruthless evil mastermind from the future on the loose, trying to take over the world, and you wanna take a detour to get rid of some drug-dealing street trash?" But Sonic wouldn't be deterred. "Shadow, I know how you feel, but I just can't sit by idly and watch these people suffer. That's just wrong. And besides, if this gang is affiliated with Eggman Nega, we might be able to dig up some info." Shadow reluctantly agreed. "Fine", he said. "But if you end up dead and maimed in a dumpster somewhere, don't say I didn't warn you." Sonic and Shadow walked back into the room. Tails was looking at a picture of Rosa with a teenage kid. "Who's that?" he asked. Rosa said "That's my grandson. His name is Joe." "Where does he live", Tails asked. Rosa just frowned and said "He died last year because of Satan's Disciples." "Tails looked at the picture and said "Oh, I'm sorry…" Sonic asked. "What happened to him?" Rosa replied, "He was pressured into trying cocaine by some of the gang members. Turns out he overdosed and died in the hospital a few hours later." "Damn them", Shadow said under his breath. Rosa looked at Shadow and said "You kind of remind me of Joe. He was quiet and brooding, but under that façade, he still had a good heart, just like you do sweetie." Shadow was embarrassed. "Yeah, whatever.", he said. "And the name's Shadow." Sonic walked up to Rosa and said "It's settled then. Tonight, we're going to find their hideout and bring them to justice. You'll never have to fear for your safety again!" Silver said "I'm fine with that." "Me too", said Blaze. "Okay then", Sonic said. "We'll head out at midnight tonight. Shadow, you stay here and watch over Knuckles." "Fine.", Shadow said. The operation to free the town had begun.

Phase 6: Under the Moonlight

It was 2 a.m. and Shadow couldn't sleep so he went out for a walk. Rosa saw him and asked "Where are you going?" Shadow said "Just need to go out for a few and clear my head." "Okay", Rosa said. "Be safe, sweetie!" Shadow walked out and looked at the full moon. "What am I supposed to do now?" Shadow thought. He knew that because of the attacks, he would probably never be able to live in peace again. He was lucky enough that the townspeople here didn't recognize him, because he would be forced to kill them in self-defense, but he didn't want to spill innocent blood. Suddenly Shadow felt a presence behind him. "You?" he shouted. Behind him was Violet. Shadow was ready to fight. But Violet held out her hand and said "Stop. I'm not here to fight, I just want to talk." "Talk?" Shadow said. "About what?" Violet sat down and said "I know about your past." Shadow was confused. "How exactly do you know?" Violet replied, "When I looked into your mind, I could feel your pain. The pain of someone who has lost a loved one. I know that pain all too well…" Shadow asked "You can read minds?" Violet nodded and said "That's one of my many powers. I am a telepath and I am able to read minds and trick people's minds into seeing things that aren't there. Most of the time, I don't have to lift a finger in battle. I just venture into my enemy's mind and bombard him with his deepest fears until they break down and beg for death. Some of them even take their own lives." "Wow, that's fucking creepy", Shadow thought. "But why are you telling me all this?" Violet sighed and said, "You're a lot like me. You see, when I was little, I lost my entire family. I lived in a poor country that had a corrupt government who didn't care about crimes and people dying as long as they had money in their pockets. One day, my family was killed by bandits. I ran outside to get away and I saw that the cops didn't even care because they were being paid off." "Wow, I'm so sorry…", Shadow said sadly. Violet continued her story. "I wandered around for days until I was captured by scientists who conducted painful experiments on me. That's how I gained my powers. Eventually, I tortured and killed them, then I escaped. That's when I found Ragnarok and he promised me that he would create a world where the downtrodden would rise up and take the reins of control from the rich people in charge. That's how I ended up here." Shadow was still confused, but he was on his guard. "Why did you come here though? I don't understand." Violet replied. "I also have some degree of precognition. I saw into your future… and it will be filled with even more heartbreak and despair if you continue going down this path." Shadow asked "What do you mean by this path?" Violet simply said "Stop fighting. Go hide out somewhere and start a new life with a new identity. You still have a chance to live a normal life, Shadow." "Wh-what? I can't do that, I have a mission, I need to defeat Eggman Nega and clear my name.", Shadow argued. Violet frowned and said "You don't have much of a chance. I hope you take my advice to heart. I have to go now, goodbye." And then she disappeared.

Phase 7: A New Mission.

Shadow woke up the next morning and ate some cookies that Rosa prepared. He appreciated the gesture, as sometimes it's the little things that can brighten one's day. "Those cookies were delicious, Rosa!", Shadow said after cleaning his plate. Rosa smiled. "Why thank you", the old lady said. "I learned this recipe from my mother when I was young. If you like, I could make you some tea as well." Shadow chuckled and said "Sure, why not?" He went outside for some air when he heard his transmitter go off. Sonic was calling him. "What's up?", Shadow asked. "We've found a drug manufacturing plant that we saw some gang members going into. I think that this is their headquarters." Shadow chuckled. "Good job", he said sarcastically. "But how do you plan to deal with them exactly?' Sonic replied, "We're going to sneak in and destroy the drugs and weapons and take out the leader. Once we're inside we'll give the coordinates to the police so they can lock them up in jail." Shadow was unimpressed. "Good luck", he said. Tails then joined in the call. "I've looked up information about these guys on the internet and they're really bad news. According to the government's database, Satan's Disciples are considered a Class A terrorist organization!" Their leader is a guy who goes by the name of Skull and claims to be half demon. Their second in command is a hitman whose codename is "Ripper." He's currently the world's most wanted man with a bounty of $900,000,000 on his head. He's worked for many clients in his 10 year career and he has over 10,000 confirmed kills. Even the military wasn't able to take him out!" "Heh", Shadow sneered. "You kids are in over your heads. There's no way you're getting out of there alive. I'm gonna have to join you." But Sonic refused. "You have to stay and take care of Knuckles", the blue hedgehog insisted. "… Oh no! Three armored vehicles just drove out of this building and they're heading toward the city. You have to intercept them!" Shadow said "I'm on it." and closed the connection. He went back into the house. "It looks you'll have to save that tea for another time", the hedgehog said. "I have a mission to attend to." Rosa turned to him with a smile and said, "Be safe, okay." Shadow nodded and said "Don't worry. I'll be fine. I can't say the same for those lowlife bastards in that gang though.", and then he headed out.

Phase 8: Karma's a Bitch

A group of gang members were headed toward the town in 3 armored vehicles. They were wearing camo colored shirts and jeans and had jackets packed with weapons. They were heavily armed, but Shadow had the upper hand. He took out his rocket launcher and fired at one of the cars from a distance. The driver of the car said "HOLY SHIT, IT'S A ROCKET LAUNCHER" and tried to steer out of the way, but he and his three passengers were blown to unrecognizable bits. The other 8 guys walked out of their cars, weapons loaded, and prepared to attack. Shadow tossed in 3 smoke grenades into the crowd for cover. Before Shadow killed them, he planned to fill their hearts with fear and despair. "Stay calm, It's one hedgehog!", said one gang member. But suddenly he saw footsteps and yelled "I've got you now mother fucker!" and opened fire. But he accidentally killed one of his allies. "What the fuck man…" the downed gang member said as he fell to the ground, dead. Screams were heard from inside the smoke and the gang members were fearing for their lives. Two guys fell to the ground dead with their throats slit. Shadow snuck up on a guy wielding a katana and used a makeshift whip he made out of barbed wire and lashed him in the face with it, destroying his eyes and leaving him blind. The gang member screamed in pain, but he still had some fight left in him "I'M GONNA SLICE YOU TO PIECES GODDAMMIT!", the blinded man yelled furiously. He heard some footsteps behind him and then he lunged forward, stabbing someone with his katana. But it was actually one of his allies. "You've got the… wrong guy…" he said as he fell to the ground dying from the mortal wound. Shadow then jumped up behind the blinded man and wrapped the barbed wire around his neck, slicing open his jugular vein and causing him to bleed out within seconds. There were three left. Suddenly a bottle of Gatorade rolled in to the smoke that was slowly clearing. "Hey look, Gatorade! I'm parched", said one gang member as he picked up the bottle and started drinking from it. But in a few seconds he doubled over and started choking, coughing up blood and chunks of flesh. The Gatorade bottle was actually filled with acid. Shadow was making quick work of his opponents. Another scream was heard. One of the remaining two gang members said "Nick, are you alright?" But as the smoke cleared, he saw his friend dead on the floor with a huge hole in his chest, his still-beating heart lying on the floor in a pool of blood. "NICK! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" said the sole remaining member. He saw Shadow a few feet away from him. "Damn you Shadow! I'll tear you apart!" He lunged at Shadow and struck with his machete, but Shadow vanished. It was actually an afterimage that Shadow created by moving at hyper speed. Shadow got behind him and sliced off the arm holding the machete. Shadow was standing over him, relishing the look of pure terror in his eyes. "Who… who are you?", asked the gang member. Shadow sharpened his knife and replied, "Me? Hehehe…That's not important. Let's talk about you people for a bit. The first time I had a run-in with you people, I got the impression that you were nothing more than a bunch of lowlife thugs. And I must say, that was pretty much spot-on." Shadow looked at his reflection in the cold steel of the knife. "You're nothing but a bunch of weaklings desperately seeking validation for your pathetic lives", said the hedgehog scornfully. "Joining a street gang? I think that's as low as you can get. Human trash… that's all you bastards are. You've basically lowered yourself to the status of a pack animal, a weak little dog who's all bark and no bite. And I hate weaklings…" Shadow slowly turned and looked at the man with a sinister smile on his face." The man began trembling, but suddenly he grabbed a shank out of his pocket and stabbed at Shadow. However, he was simply too slow. Without even flinching, Shadow grabbed his hand and tore it off by its socket. The unlucky gang member screamed in agony as crimson blood dripped from his wound. "You… _YOU MONSTER!_",he shouted in fear. "You're right", Shadow replied. "I am a monster. But I'd rather be a monster than a lowlife piece of shit. By the way, the name's Shadow. And that's the last name you're ever gonna hear." Shadow slashed the man's throat and killed him.

"Well, that was fun", Shadow thought. "But if anymore of these guys show their ugly faces in here, it could be a problem for the townspeople. I have to go to their headquarters and eliminate them before that happens!" Shadow took one of the armored cars and drove back, following the tire tracks to the headquarters. Meanwhile, Sonic, Tails, Silver, and Blaze snuck into the headquarters stealthily and did their best to avoid the security guards. Once they were inside, Silver used his telekinesis to move around boxes and other items from a distance in order to provide a distraction. It worked, and they were able to make it to the stairs to the second floor. The elevator was locked, so they couldn't use it, but Sonic overheard some security guards saying that Skull's office was located on the 10th floor. "Looks like we have our work cut out for us", Sonic said. Silver asked "Well, what do you plan to do?" Sonic answered "Well, the bulk of the drug manufacturing takes place on the 4th floor, so I say we wait to strike until we get there. Plus, they'll most likely be unarmed, so they wont stand a chance!" "Okay then", said Blaze "Let's go." The four heroes continued to sneak through the facility towards the 4th floor, confident that they could take whatever their enemies could throw at them.


	3. Paint The Town Blood Red

Act III: Paint The Town Blood Red

Phase 1: Devil's Hangout

Meanwhile, back at the main control center, Skull and his second in command, Ripper, were sharing some friendly banter. "You are ugly as fuck, you know that?" Ripper said to Skull. "God damn, I think even the devil would cry if he saw your ugly face in person." "Shut your mouth", Skull said as he continued to snort a line of crack off a pizza box. "Why did you have those guys pick up a pizza for you if you aren't even gonna eat it?", asked Ripper. Skull replied, "Well, I did take a few bites, but then I lost interest. I guess all of that cocaine over the years has fucked with my taste buds. But I haven't eaten much lately anyway." Skull was a tall, skinny individual who looked like a Twilight movie reject. He got his nickname because of his emaciated, nearly skeletal figure. He wore a tattered blue sweatshirt with a plain white t-shirt under it and worn out jeans. He also looked like he hadn't bathed in a few days. Ripper was a classy hitman, always dressed to kill. He had his brown hair slicked back and wore a dark navy blue suit with a black tie and a top hat with a hidden blade that could be used as a throwing weapon at mid-range if the situation called for it. The dark colors help him blend in during nighttime hits. He also wore black boots with knives hidden in the soles for close combat. "You know what you need?" said Ripper as he twirled a pistol around his finger. "You need a makeover. Back in the day, you used to be pretty stylish, but now it seems that you don't even care about your appearance. It must be the crack. Ever since you picked up crack, you've changed." Skull was pissed. "How much do I have to pay you to shut the fuck up?" he asked. "Oh, probably 2 or 3 mil?", Ripper said with a laugh. "But, seriously, I'm just looking out for you bro. How do you expect people to respect you if you look like you just crawled out of a dumpster?" Skull considered his advice. "Hey, Ripper, do you think I'd look good with a shaved head?", Skull asked. Ripper replied, "Well, you won't know about that until you do it!" "Fine then", said Skull. He called over one of his lackeys and got him to shave his head. After that, Ripper held up a mirror in front of Skull's face. "What do you think?", he asked. Skull was not amused. "I look like motherfucking Vin Diesel…", Skull said, disappointed. "So, what's the problem?', Ripper said, laughing so hard he nearly fell out of his seat. Skull just turned around and said "I'm never taking advice from your dumb ass again."

Phase 2: All-Out Attack

Sonic and friends made it to the fourth floor of the facility. It was time to put their plan into action. "Okay guys, here's what we're gonna do", Sonic whispered to Tails, Blaze , and Silver. Sonic used his speed to sneak into the drug plant and knock out the guy manning the controls. When the alarm went off, a lot of the people cooking up the drugs ran away, but a few stayed to fight. Security guards were on their way too. Silver used his psychic powers to pick up a bucket of needles and drop them on a guard who was rushing him. The needles stabbed him all over and one of them jabbed him straight in the eye. "Ouch, that's gotta hurt!", said Sonic as he watched from above. "But this wouldn't have happened if you weren't making illegal drugs in the first place!" Tails used his stun gun to immobilize a few armed guards. "Piece of cake!", the fox said. But suddenly a huge motherfucker came up to Silver, dual wielding chainsaws. He swung wildly at Silver, trying to dismember him, but Silver thought fast and telekinetically picked up a microwave full of cocaine, slamming it on the assailant's head and sending him face first into the floor. He got up though, and Silver picked up the two chainsaws with his mind, about to finish him off, but Sonic stopped him. "Remember, no killing." he said. Silver put the chainsaws down and smashed the guy through a wall instead. While those 3 were fighting, Blaze was destroying the drugs on the floor. After a few more minutes, all of the gang members on the floor were defeated, but Sonic knew there were more on the way. He was looking for a possible escape rout to another floor. "Tails? Where'd you go?" he asked, as he looked for Tails. Tails ran up to him, dragging an unconscious guy along with him. "I've got our ticket out of here!", said Tails as he flashed a keycard. "Hey, where'd you get that?", asked Sonic. "Well, it was easy.", Tails replied. "I found a security guard with a bunch of keys on his keychain and I asked him which is the key from the elevator. He wouldn't say, so I switched my Electro Pulse Blaster to taser mode and used it to interrogate him. He was all like "Don't tase me bro", but I did it anyway." Sonic laughed nervously. "Remind me not to get on your bad side, little buddy." he said.

Meanwhile, at the top floor, Skull was wondering where the retrieval squad he sent to the city was. It had been nearly two hours and they were nowhere to be found. "What's taking those guys so long?", Skull asked angrily. Ripper was curious about Eggman Nega's plan. He asked Ragnarok "What do the fatass and that metal rat want exactly?" Ragnarok turned around and said "Well… I'm not exactly sure, but the doctor said he just needed Shadow captured alive, or at least with his body intact." Skull was getting angrier by the minute. "You there! Get your ass in gear and track down the signal from their transmitter!", he shouted at one of the technical assistants, jolting him out of his sleep. He rushed anxiously to find the signal, but it was down. "The s-signal was l-lost about an hour ago, Boss…", he said nervously. "Oh?" Skull asked. "Why am I only hearing about this now?" The tech assistant replied, "B-because I was t-taking… a nap…" Skull immediately got up and looked straight at him. "Wrong answer.", he said. Skull drew a pistol from his pocket in a split second and shot the tech assistant in the face. Everyone else was looking on with fear in their eyes. "I didn't want to have to do that, but this is what happens when you sleep on the job. So if I see any of you lazy fucks sleeping, then I'll have to "put you to sleep" myself. But don't worry", he said with his gun cocked, "I'll make sure to tuck you in with my Glock." Ragnarok chuckled and said sarcastically, "Look out, we got a badass over here!" "Shut the fuck up, you useless shitbag.", said Ripper in an enraged voice. You haven't done anything noteworthy in a few months, you can't criticize me!" Ragnarok turned around and said "Well I could have gone out to capture Shadow, even if capturing him alive wouldn't be nearly as fun. But you wouldn't let me." Ripper stood up from his chair and took his jacket off. "Okay, guys, no need to fight. I'll head to the city to take up the job" he said. "No", Skull said. "You stay here in case I need backup. Remember why I pay you." Ripper didn't listen to him. "You pay me to take out threats to the organization, but I wouldn't take a grenade for you or any kinda bullshit like that. If you're the leader of this gang, then start acting like it and pull your own weight." Skull smiled evilly. "You really wanna fight that hedgehog, don't you?" he asked. "Yeah, I haven't had a decent challenge in a few years", Ripper said as he put on a trench coat containing concealed weapons and ammo. "Besides, I want to see how well a Super Soldier like myself would fare against the so-called Ultimate Life-form."

Phase 3: Heart of Stone

Sonic and the others used the stolen elevator key to sneak into the top floor of the building before reinforcements appeared on the 4th floor. After they got out of the elevator, Tails disabled the controls so no one would be able to follow them there. "Nice work, Tails!", Sonic said with a wink. Tails nodded and said "It's not over yet. The real battle starts now." Sonic, Tails, Silver, and Blaze were ready to strike. Tails blew a huge hole threw the wall with a charged shot from his blaster. The tech assistants looked on in shock and immediately stood out of their chairs with their hands up. But Skull wasn't impressed at all. "Don't worry, the cops aren't here. It's just these assholes", said Skull. "We're here to stop your operations here and now. We won't let you terrorize innocent people anymore!", declared Sonic. "All of this futuristic technology… There's no doubt, they're definitely working with Eggman Nega!" shouted Silver. "No shit, Sherlock." Skull sneered. "That old fart gave us everything we need to rule the streets. Even the cops don't wanna fuck with us anymore. I showed them what happens to people who oppose us a few months ago when we skinned and beheaded a few of those bitches and dropped them off at the town square." "You truly are evil", said Blaze angrily. Skull laughed. "Exactly. 'Evil' people are the ones most fit to be in power. We're ruthless and will do anything to hold onto power, unlike you posers who fight for "freedom" or "justice" or whatever bullshit ideals you've learned from Disney movies. With the way you fight, there's no way a bunch of puny little shits like you could even put a dent in our organization!" Sonic smirked. "We won't know unless we try!" he said. "Challenge accepted", said Skull as he drew his two Glock 17C semiautomatic pistols. "Let's get this party started!" he said, smiling and ready to slaughter Sonic and his crew. "Too bad Ripper isn't here to join in on the fun. He's back at the town looking for your friend. I wouldn't wanna be in Shadow's shoes right now." Sonic was shocked. "Oh no, somebody's gotta stop that guy!" Blaze looked at Sonic and said "We're on it." She left for the town along with Silver. Ragnarok looked at Tails. "I guess it's you against me, then. Boring…" he said as he used a splinter of bone as a toothpick. "Then again, I've never tasted fox before. How about we make this a meal to remember!" Ragnarok produced a bone blade from each of his wrists and charged at Tails. Meanwhile. Shadow had just entered the building and Ripper had arrived at the town, ready to begin the hunt for his prey.

Phase 4: Machete in My Right Hand, Shotgun in My Left

Ripper had just arrived at the town, and to his surprise, he was welcomed by the entire police force. "Well, what do we have here…?" he said as he scratched his head. "I appreciate the warm welcome, but I'm here on business and have a tight schedule so I'll need you to hand something over to me." The police commissioner walked up to Ripper out of a crown of 2 dozen or so cops and calmly said "I have over 40 officers stationed in this town at the moment and the SWAT team is on its way. There's no way out of this. Surrender now, because we are well prepared to use deadly force to subdue you." Ripper just pointed and laughed in his face. "This guy is hilarious", he said. "Do you even know who I am? Here, take a look at this", said Ripper as he pulled out his custom machete. "Read what's engraved on the blade." The commissioner said "It says Ripper." "That's right!", Ripper exclaimed. He swung his machete and decapitated the police commissioner in one fell swoop. Everyone just watched in horror. Ripper twirled his machete stylishly and turned to the other officers. "Don't end up like this guy." he told them. "I'm feeling generous today, so if you just tell me where the hedgehog is, I wont kill you guys. Trust me, you won't regret it. I can think of like 99 ways you guys could die fighting me, and that's just off the top of my head. So I think you'd be better off if you just cooperate with me." The officers loaded their guns and one of them said "Never!" Ripper replied "Okay. But I'm going to show you firsthand why you don't stand a chance against me." He put his machete and shotgun on the ground. "I'm going in unarmed. You ready for me?" he asked the cops. "Open fire!" one of them yelled. They opened fire with their pistols, but Ripper jumped over the barrage of bullets and landed behind the crowd. He disarmed a cop, snapped his neck, and took his pistol. He shot 8 nearby officers in the head with pinpoint accuracy and used the dead one's body for cover. Then he did a triple backflip and landed back in his original position next to his weapons. "Is that all you got?", he asked arrogantly. "One of the officers said "I shot him, I know it." Another said "Yeah, I know. I saw two of my bullets hit him. But he doesn't have a scratch on him!" Ripper replied. "I'll tell you why. The clothes I'm wearing right know are made of a thin experimental bulletproof material that's even more effective than Kevlar. I stole this from the military, along with most of the weapons in my arsenal." He picked up his machete and experimental Hydra X Rapid Fire Semiautomatic 28-gauge shotgun and got ready to kill everyone who stood in his way. "I'll show you what happens when you interfere with my plans" said Ripper with a devilish smile. The cops opened fire again, but Ripper dashed out of their range of fire and used his shotgun to take out 6 or 7 of them , pretty much turning their heads into jelly. Blood spurted out of the stumps where their heads used to be, like red geysers. "Well lookie here, it's raining blood!" exclaimed Ripper. Some of the cops started to run away in fear, but a few still wanted to push their luck. They were shooting at Ripper from a distance, but he was able to use his superior speed to run up to each of them while dodging their shots and slice them apart with his machete. Only one officer was left and he tried to shoot down Ripper but Ripper used his superior speed to run right up in front of him and grab him by the head. He shredded his face by running and dragging him along the rough pavement of the road, and then nonchalantly threw him into a well, killing him. After that, he pulled up a lawn chair and sat down on it with his arms crossed. Ripper was one smooth criminal. "Who's next?" asked the trigger-happy hitman. "I could do this all day!" He saw some large armored vans pulling up across the street. The SWAT team had arrived. "Looks like things are about to get interesting", Ripper said as stood up and picked up his weapons.

Phase 5: The Half-Demon Strikes

Ragnarok was slashing at Tails frantically, trying to hit his vital points. Tails knew he couldn't fight him up close, so he was forced to fly into the air and try to shoot him from a distance with his Electro Pulse Blaster. "Get down here, you little bitch!", yelled Ragnarok. "What are you, scared?" Tails could feel the bloodlust in his voice. He tried to get a good shot but he couldn't aim properly because he was shuddering with fear. Sonic was up against Skull. Skull was firing a barrage of bullets, but Sonic was running fast enough to dodge it. "Once I kill you, I'm going to cut off your fuckin head and keep it as a trophy!" he yelled as he unloaded his ammo, firing in every direction. Eventually, he ran out. "Damn, I guess you're too fast for a bullet to hit you." "Maybe you were just too slow!", Sonic taunted. Skull frowned and said "Guess I'll have to use my sword." He pulled out his sword and rushed at Sonic, slashing maniacally. Skull was impressively fast, almost able to keep up with Sonic, and his reflexes were on overdrive from all of the crack he smoked. But he still couldn't get a good hit in. "Catch me if you can!", yelled Sonic as he ran and jumped on top of a counter. "You shouldn't try to piss me off." Skull grunted. He started rushing Sonic even more recklessly, but Sonic took advantage of him and kicked him into a window, almost causing him to fall to his death. "Woah, watch out man, you could fall if you get too close!" said Sonic. This only served to piss Skull off more and he grabbed a hand grenade and threw it at Sonic. Sonid dodged the blast and used the smoke as cover to run in and attack with a flurry of super-fast punches. He jumped out of the smoke, but he felt something pricking his leg. It was a dart. "A tranquilizer?" Sonic thought to himself. He didn't have time to think about it, because Ripper came at him with a sword and a submachinegun.

Tails's Electro Pulse Blaster was running out of power, but Ragnarok was too fast to hit. He began jumping at Tails and trying to attack from the air. "Gotcha!" Ragnarok said as he grabbed hold of Tails's leg and threw him into the ground. He started smashing Tails into a wall and then threw him into a display monitor. Tails was bruised up lying on the floor and Ragnarok was going in for the kill. "You can't expect to beat someone with obvious killing intent unless you yourself fight to kill", he said. He extended a bone blade from his wrist and asked "Any last words?" Tails said, "Sorry, Sonic, but I have to do this." He flipped the switch on the Electro Pulse Blaster to Overdrive and shot a huge beam of energy at Ragnarok from point-blank range. Ragnarok was able to partly dodge it, but his legs were burned badly to the point where he could barely walk. "Sh-shit…" Ragnarok said as he tried to limp away to safety. Now it was just Sonic against Skull. Sonic was able to dodge his submachine gun shots, but his reaction time was noticeably delayed. Skull kicked Sonic into a wall. "What is this stuff.." Sonic asked. Skull replied, "I've injected you with a special designer drug I received from the cartels. It's called Escolopendra and it's basically bootleg Mexican morphine. It causes you to lose muscle control, but still feel pain. When we're not selling it to dumbass junkies, we use it to torture our victims before we kill them." Sonic was having trouble standing up. Ripper charged at Sonic and tried to stab him with the sword as he got up. It wasn't a direct hit, but he slashed into Sonic's side. Sonic grimaced in pain and fell to the ground. Skull twirled his sword around and said "Looks like it's over for you, Sonic. Don't worry, I'll keep your head trophy nice and safe." He slashed at sonic with the intent to behead him, but was stopped abruptly when Shadow spin dashed through the floor, slamming into Skull and sending him flying into the ceiling. "Looks like we're even, Sonic." Shadow said. Sonic just nodded weakly. Skull got up and picked up his sword. "How the fuck did you get here?" he asked Shadow. Shadow explained. "Well, it was easy. Since the elevator wasn't working, so I crashed through each floor until I got to the top. I just killed anyone who tried to get in my way.", he said with a smirk. "I see", said Skull. "Those grunts you killed can always be replaced though. As for you, I'm going to kill you and end this little operation of yours here and now!" Ripper charged at Shadow with his sword and Shadow jumped in with two knives.

Phase 6: Outrun My Gun

Ripper was picking off SWAT team agents without even breaking a sweat. After only 10 minutes, they were already calling for backup. "Reinforcements! Repeat, we need- Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!" He was torn apart by a hail of bullets from Ripper's submachinegun. "What a fucking bore." Ripper said as he reloaded. Nobody could stand up to an elite bloodthirsty killer like him. "I wish you people would stop fucking around and just tell me where that hedgehog is. I'm starting to get annoyed." An injured man with some fight left in him crawled up to Ripper. He tried to stab with his knife but Ripper just kicked it out of the man's hand and stepped on his head. The man asked "Why… are you…. doing this? What do you plan…to accomplish….?" Ripper just smiled a wicked smile and said "Nothing. I'm just stone cold crazy." He shot the man in the head and walked off. There were some SWAT team snipers lurking around the area. "You're scared huh? Why don't you come and fight me up close and personal?" Suddenly two shots from the snipers were fired. With Ripper's superior senses, he was able to move out of the line of fire and calculate the snipers' locations using the trajectory of the bullets. He tossed two grenades into a window on the second floor of a building. The last thing he heard was a scream of "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! WE'RE DEAD!" before they went off. It seemed like everyone was either dead or had fled the town. "So I'm gonna have to search random houses to find this asshole? God damn, this really isn't how I wanted to spend my afternoon…" Ripper went up to the police station and pulled out a specialized pistol from his coat pocket. It was the "Shinigami" High output semiautomatic pistol, the most powerful handgun in the world. It was piano black with a horned skull design on the magazine, which held up to 15 cartridges, making it a bit longer than the barrel which was the size of the Smith & Wesson 500's barrel. The basic ammo for the gun were .700 Hell Magnum hollow point rounds. The recoil could seriously injure a person who was not experienced with guns. Using such a weapon on humans was extreme overkill due to the fact that it was actually more suited to bring down big game like bears and rhinos. In fact, this gun was deemed too cruel even for use in war, so they were stored away in a special military vault, until Ripper stole one. He had it custom painted and called it Shirley. "Time to come out and play, Shirley", said Ripper as he loaded the pistol with Supernova-grade High Explosive Incendiary rounds. He yelled " If you people want to live another day, you people better fess up and tell me where Shadow is. This is your last warning!" An officer by the window replied by firing a sniper rifle in Ripper's direction, which he took as a no. "Here comes the motherfucking sun", said Ripper as he aimed at the station and pulled the trigger. When it hit, the building was engulfed in flames, roasting the people inside like pizzas in a 1000 degree oven. When Ripper turned he saw the civilian militia in the distance armed and ready to strike. They tossed smoke grenades and began to open fire. "No chance in hell!" Ripper yelled and he jumped into the air above the cloud of smoke and fired two Supernova rounds, wiping out almost all of them in a hellish burst of flame. All that was left was their charred remains. "Waste of time", he muttered angrily. He was about to start firing on random houses when he was hit with a shotgun round in the midsection. He jumped back and saw Rosa in the distance armed with a Winchester Model 1300 pump-action shotgun with a bayonet attached at the barrel. Standing next to her was Knuckles, injured, but still willing to fight. Rosa cocked the shotgun and said "We won't let you destroy innocent people's lives any longer!" Ripper smiled. "It must be you who's hiding him. Tell me where he is now." Rosa stood her ground and said "I refuse." "Then die, old lady", shouted Ripper as he fired a Supernova round at her. A few feet before it hit its target, it was deflected out of the way. Silver and Blaze had arrived. "You're the only one here who's going up in flames!" Blaze yelled. Ripper was visibly annoyed. "This is getting way out of hand. I'm going to burn the fucking skin right off your bones!", Ripper scowled as he reloaded his gun.

Phase 7: Blue Justice

Skull and Shadow seemed to be evenly matched, although Shadow still needed to stay on the defensive because Skull's longsword had a larger effective range than Shadow's knives. "C'mon motherfucker, show me what you've got!", shouted Skull as he slashed wildly at Shadow. "You people are the dregs of the Earth", said Shadow to Skull. "I'm doing the world a favor by eliminating you bastards!" "Hahahahaha! You really think that getting rid of one organized crime gang will make the world a better place? Even if you do end up killing me (trust me, you won't), there are a ton of people just like me out there who are just as fucked up as me." He backed Shadow into a wall. "Do you honestly think the world would be any better with corrupt, power hungry politicians and corporations on top? They take advantage of people just like we do, and then discard them like tools when they've outlived their usefulness! At least we're fighting the system!" "Shut up.", said Shadow as he blocked a swing with the sword. Shadow was backed into a corner and Skull's sword was at his throat. Skull smiled menacingly. "You know, Eggman Nega gave me some info about your past. I know what happened 50 years ago." "Shut up!" yelled Shadow as he struggled to force the sword away. Skull continued to taunt Shadow. "The military killed Professor Gerald and his associates because they viewed them as a threat. They imprisoned you for the same reason. Do you even know what you're fighting for?" Shadow was enraged. "I SAID SHUT THE FUCK UP! CHAOS BLAST!" Skull was blown away by the blast of energy and crashed through a wall. Shadow dashed through the air in pursuit. When the rubble cleared, Shadow saw Skull on the floor with a pistol in his hand. "Not bad", Skull said. "But can you handle this?" Skull jumped up and started shooting at Shadow with the pistol. Shadow just dodged his shots and threw his two knives at Skull. One missed, but he other hit him in his hand and caused him to drop the gun. Shadow knew he was open, so he started running directly toward Skull at high speed. But Skull knew what was coming. "Game Over!", exclaimed Skull as he sliced Shadow in half. "Hehe, what a joke.", he said as he twirled his pistol.

"I'm over here.", a voice said. Skull blinked and the Shadow he cut in half had disappeared. It was only an afterimage. He turned around and tried to strike at the real Shadow, but he was too slow. Shadow shot Skull twice in the midsection with a revolver, and then kicked him down a flight of stairs. Skull's limp and immobile body lay at the bottom of the stairwell. "That was my Chaos Illusion attack. By moving at mach speed, I can create afterimages of myself and confuse the opponent.", boasted Shadow. "You can't defeat the Ultimate Life-form with raw power alone!" Shadow looked down at Skull and saw him struggling to get back up. "It seems those wounds weren't fatal…", mused Shadow. He used his superior marksmanship to shoot Skull in the back at the base of the spinal cord, crippling him. Shadow calmly walked down the stairs to talk with the madman face to face. "What the fuck… did you do to me…?", snarled Skull through clenched teeth. Shadow smirked a sadistic smile and said "I could kill you, but that would be letting you off easy. A scumbag like you deserves a harsher punishment. That last shot severed your spinal cord, so now you're paralyzed from the neck down. Hope you enjoy shitting yourself in a hospital bed for the rest of your life, jackass!" Skull couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Fuck… you…" he said as he fell unconscious. Shadow knew he still had work to do. "That other hedgehog is still here", he thought. "His legs were injured, so he couldn't have gone far." Shadow made his way up to the roof of the building. Ragnarok was limping his way to a helicopter, trying to escape. "Too easy", said Shadow with a smile. He used his super speed to run up to Ragnarok and throw him to the ground. He pressed his heel into the injured hedgehog's burned leg and aimed the revolver at his head. "Game over.", he said. Ragnarok looked up at Shadow. "C'est magnifique, Shadow my boy. But let me ask you one question. What plans do you have for the future?" Shadow was puzzled. "What are you talking about?" he asked. With a stern face, Ragnarok said "I have a great plan for this world. With my associates by my side, I will change it in ways that no man in history has ever dreamed of. And I have a feeling that you'd fit right in." Shadow smiled. "If this is some kind of half-assed attempt to talk your way out of things, then it won't work.", he said. "With a slip of my finger, I can send you straight to hell where you belong." Ragnarok frowned. "I've come too far to die now.", he said. "I don't care whether you plan to join me or not. The fact is, I'm not going to let my plans for the future be ruined by someone who can't even let go of his past!" Shadow stopped for a second, but then raised his gun, ready to fire. "I've heard enough", Shadow said. He was about to pull the trigger, but a hand grabbed his arm. It was Sonic. The drug had worn off and he was as fast as ever. "Let him go, Shadow", said Sonic firmly. "You really are a dumbass.", Shadow said. "You're willing to let his freak go after he tried to kill us twice? What kind of fucking sense does that make?" Sonic smiled and looked at Shadow. "This isn't about revenge or retribution." he said. "It's about justice. People change if you give them a chance, Shadow. Isn't that what you did?" Shadow looked down. "No. I haven't changed. I'm no more than a villain forced down a bloodstained path. Now all I can do is kill. That's just the way thing are." he said with a frown. Sonic grabbed Shadow and said "No, that's not true! No one's forcing you to do anything. It's your decision to make."

"Yeah, I know", Shadow said sadly. He looked down at Ragnarok. "And my decision is…

…that he dies."

Shadow aimed the revolver at Ragnarok's head, and, against Sonic's wishes, pulled the trigger. However, in an odd twist of fate, the gun jammed. Ragnarok noticed this and used this opportunity to fire a bone spike at Shadow. Shadow and Sonic jumped out of the way to dodge it, and he leapt into the helicopter and flew away. "Damn, he got away", Shadow said angrily. Sonic's face was tinged with disappointment. He was about to give Shadow a lecture when Tails walked up to them. "Guys, I called in the X-Divider, so you can go to the town and stop that hitman!" "Thanks, Tails!", said Sonic with a smile. "I'm not going though." Tails said. "I'm going to examine the communications grid and see if I can use the EXIF data from Eggman Nega's previous transmission to ascertain his location." Sonic was amazed. "I had no idea you could do that! Tails, you're a genius!" Tails blushed. "Thanks. The police have just showed up too, so they're going to round up the rest of these criminals, if there are any left alive. Anyway, you guys have a job to do. I'll catch up later!" he said. Sonic and Shadow jumped in the cockpit and flew to the town. Little did they know that they would be greeted by a horrifying spectacle of wanton destruction.

Phase 8: Bloody Crescendo

The battle in the town was raging on. Silver and Blaze were fighting Ripper from mid-range and Rosa was providing covering fire. Ripper had already used up a whole magazine of Supernova rounds, but Silver was able to deflect them all. Against people who knew what they were doing, Ripper actually had to try. He went to reload his Shinigami pistol, but Silver knocked it out of his hand with a blast of psychic energy. When Ripper dodged another blast, Blaze threw a huge fireball at him, knocking him into a collapsed building. He got up from the impact, slightly singed, but not seriously injured, because his clothes were also somewhat flame-resistant. "Damn, this flame bitch is really dangerous. If I didn't come prepared, that might have really killed me", he said as he dusted himself off. "Looks like I'll have to use everything I've got." He grabbed two smoke grenades from his jacket. "Let's see if this will work", he said to himself. Ripper ran toward Blaze, but jumped back and threw the smoke grenades. Blaze noticed that they where smoke grenades, and was about to use her fire to clear the smoke, but she suddenly started to feel lightheaded. "What… is this stuff…" she said as she wobbled forward. After a few seconds she completely lost consciousness. When the smoke cleared, she was laying on the ground. "Blaze! No!", shouted Silver in a panic. The smoke grenades were filled with sleeping gas. "Jackpot", Ripper said as he grabbed his machete. He was going to strike at Blaze while she was totally helpless. Ripper jumped in, ready to cleave her in half, but Silver teleported in front of the hitman and stopped him using a psychic barrier. "How do you get so much satisfaction from killing?", Silver asked him. Ripper just smiled and said "It's the adrenaline rush. The only time I ever feel alive is when I'm up against a horde of bloodthirsty opponents, ready to take my life!" He knocked Silver away, but the hedgehog wouldn't be deterred. He grabbed Ripper using his telekinetic powers and slammed him into a building over and over. But it seemed like it had little effect. "How are you still breathing?", Silver asked in amazement. "There's no way you're human!" Ripper laughed maniacally. "That's right, I'm not human. I'm a genetically enhanced Super Soldier, modified to be the ultimate killing machine. I'm pretty good, aren't I?", he asked. "How can you have such little regard for human life?" Silver asked, glaring at him in disgust. "Doesn't is upset you that the people who you kill leave families and loved ones behind? How can you stand to make them suffer like that!?" Riper just laughed again and said, "First of all, what you call sadness is merely a chemical reaction in the brain. In the grand scheme of things, we're all just bags of flesh. None of the primitive 'emotions' you experience have any real meaning. The scientist who made me this way taught me that." Silver stared at him wide-eyed. "Scientist…? You don't mean…?" "No, you don't know him." corrected Ripper. "I met him over 10 years ago and he taught me the true nature of the world."

"Let me tell you a story. You see, I used to be a soldier who would give anything to fight for his country. I lost my family in a tragic turn of events, so I had no other reason for living. But a fateful encounter with some terrorists changed that. I was sent to a remote area in the mountains to stop them from launching a nuke. I fought with everything I could, but my unit was dropping like flies. I was one of the 6 or 7 soldier left, and I was ready to die for my country, but then I heard an explosion and everything went up in flames. When I woke up a month later, I was in a lab and that scientist woke me, and told me the truth about that incident. Turns out the military ordered a mortar strike to burn everything to the ground, even though they had friendly soldiers stationed there! To them, I was easily replaceable." Silver looked at him in shock. "You're serious?", asked the hedgehog. "Yes, I was the sold survivor of that battle.", he replied. "The old man had a similar experience. He was working on some energy research that would change the world for the better, but the government didn't want this information to get out so they cancelled his research and ruined his reputation by spreading the false rumor that he was working on weapons of mass destruction. And the icing on the cake? They blackmailed him by threatening to kill his family if he ever told anyone the truth." Silver was puzzled by this sudden reveal. "Why the hell are you telling me all this?", he asked. Ripper pointed his machete at him and said. "Because the truth is, that the struggles of us ordinary people mean absolutely nothing. Our lives are expendable and meaningless. That is the reason why I kill. To show this corrupt, piece of shit world that I won't stand for its bullshit, and to give one big 'fuck you' to the establishment!" Silver shook his head in disagreement. "You are one twisted motherfucker", he said. "I can see that you're in a lot of pain and you've been like that for a long time. But don't worry, I'll end it all right now." Silver raised his hand in the air and used his telekinesis to gather a massive amount of debris from the destroyed buildings of the city. "You can't erase all the misfortune, injustice, and cursed knowledge that were etched deep into my memory!", Ripper yelled furiously. "If you think you can take on all of my anger, sorrow and hatred, then BRING IT ON!" Silver levitated in the air, with the massive ball of rubble above him. "See you in the next world", he said, propelling the huge mass of debris toward Ripper. The impact was so strong that it created a crater with a diameter of 2 kilometers in the spot where Ripper was standing. It seemed like it was all over. Silver turned around and was about to go check on Blaze when he felt a searing pain in his back. He was shot. He turned around and saw Ripper, battered and bloody, jumping into the air toward him, machete in hand. The hitman was about to kill Silver, but he was stopped when Shadow spin dashed, into him, knocking him out of the sky and dislocating his arm. "I'll take over from here." Shadow said.

Sonic was looking on in the X-Divider, since he was injured in the last battle. While Shadow fought, he went to Rosa to get his wound patched up. Shadow and Ripper had finally met face to face. Ripper popped his dislocated shoulder back in place and yelled to Shadow, "So you're this Ultimate Life-form huh? Show me your power!" "Gladly", replied Shadow. Before Shadow went in to fight, Silver pulled him to the side and said, "Shadow, this guy's not human. He calls himself a Super Soldier and his abilities far surpass that of normal humans. He doesn't have any problems with killing either. Be careful." Shadow chuckled. "Since when have I ever needed your help?" He walked off toward Ripper to begin the decisive battle. "Let's begin, shall we?", said Shadow, ready to fight. Ripper began shooting at Shadow, but Shadow used his speed to dodge. "Chaos Illusion!" yelled Shadow as he began moving at mach speed , creating about a dozen afterimages in front of Ripper. "Boring", said Ripper as he pulled out frag grenade and kicked it at Shadow. It wasn't a direct hit, but Shadow was struck by some shrapnel. He grimaced in pain and Ripper dashed in front of him at an impressive speed and started swinging the machete at Shadow. Shadow was actually having some trouble dodging, and his arm was cut slightly. He retaliated by kicking the machete out of Ripper's hand. Ripper didn't even stop to think, he just unloaded his pistol at Shadow, with one round striking him in the stomach. Shadow grabbed the machete and ran behind a broken down house to hide. "Running away? Seriously? Is that all the Ultimate Life-form can do?", shouted Ripper. Shadow, however, wasn't going to fall for his taunts and just hid, biding his time in hopes of catching Ripper off guard. Ripper ran after Shadow and spotted him. "Bye-bye, Shadow!", exclaimed Ripper with a maniacal smile as he swung a combat knife, slicing through Shadow. However, this Shadow was only an illusion. The real Shadow threw the machete at Ripper from a distance, slicing his left arm clean off. But Ripper just grabbed a lighter from his pocket, and without even flinching, used it to cauterize the wound. "Pitiful.", Ripper said with a frown. Shadow was at his wit's end. He didn't know what he could do to take such a skilled fighter down, plus he was badly injured as well. Ripper picked up the machete and launched a close range assault at Shadow using the machete itself and the blades on his boots. Shadow used his Chaos Blast, but it didn't serve to do much except burn off half of Ripper's bulletproof jacket. Ripper just went on slashing, one of his shoe blades caught Shadow in the chest, if he was any closer it could have reached his heart. Shadow began running away to examine his options and consider his next move. Ripper shook his head in shame. "You're pathetic", he said. "Not even worth fighting. Looks like I'll have to end this right now." He began walking slowly toward Shadow, when he was struck in the back by a shotgun slug. Rosa had fired at him. "You just don't know when to quit", Ripper said. He pulled a knife from his belt and threw it, striking her directly in the neck, a fatal wound. Rosa dropped to the ground and Shadow just stared on in shock and dismay.

Phase 9: Shadow's Rage

Shadow ran toward Rosa, hoping that there was still a way to save her. Ripper started laughing hysterically. "Holy fuck! You actually care about these flesh bags? You really are weak, not even worthy of that meaningless title you throw around." Shadow ignored his taunting words and rushed to Rosa's side along with Sonic. But they were too late, and she already lost too much blood. "Hold on!", Shadow yelled. "We'll get help, you'll be okay." But Rosa shook her head. "My time is up, dear. I'm sorry, but we won't be having tea and cookies anymore", she said with tears in her eyes. "Don't say that! You can't just give up!" Rosa shook her head again and said. "It's no use. But thank you for giving this old bag some company in her final days. I'm sure you'll be able to prove your innocence one day…" Her body went limp, she was gone. At that moment, Shadow snapped. He broke off the limiter rings on his wrists and went into overdrive mode. Ripper opened his eyes wide in shock. "So, is this your full power? Well lets get down to…" His sentence was stopped abruptly as Shadow plunged a knife into his chest. Ripper was caught by surprise and jumped back. Shadow was moving so fast that he couldn't even see him. Ripper pulled the knife out and threw it at Shadow, but he was moving so fast, it seemed to slip right through him. "What? No way…!" he thought. He pulled a .44 Magnum from the holster on his right and started firing at Shadow , but Shadow blocked every shot. "What the fuck are you!?" Ripper yelled in a panic. He kicked at Shadow but Shadow blocked his attack and picked him up by the neck, levitating him into the air. In his last act of desperation, Ripper tried to punch Shadow with his remaining arm, but Shadow caught his arm and twisted it backwards, fracturing the bone. "Stop struggling. Your life is over", Shadow said coldly. Ripper sighed and looked at Shadow with a Zen-like calm on his face. "I guess it's time for me to embrace the void", the defeated hitman said. Shadow brought him over to the X-Divider and said "When you get to hell, tell them that Shadow sent you." He then threw Ripper into the plane's moving propeller, which shredded the upper half of his body to bits. The bloody battle was over at last.


	4. Azure Thunder

Act IV: Azure Thunder

Phase 1: Calm After the Storm

It was the day after the battle and Shadow had just finished building a grave for Rosa. The drug manufacturing facility had been shut down and Satan's Disciples had either been killed or rounded up by the police. Shadow had donated Ripper's bounty money to the town. The mayor walked up to Shadow and thanked him for his charitable deed. "You're really a lifesaver", the mayor said. "By the way, what's your name?" Shadow just turned around and walked off, replying, "You don't need to know." Shadow didn't want these people knowing his true identity and pursuing him along with the military. Shadow went to place a few flowers on Rosa's grave when Sonic and Tails approached. Tails waved and said "Guys, I have some important news!" Everyone gathered around Tails to hear what he had to say. "I was able to break the encryption on the messages and I found what might be Eggman Nega's base of operations. Shadow looked straight at Tails. "You're serious?", he asked. Tails nodded. "It's most likely correct, unless Eggman was spoofing his location, which is unlikely." Shadow clenched his fist. "We have to go there and stop him now, before any more innocent lives are lost", he said in a rage. Knuckles rushed in and pushed Shadow out of the way. "Guys, change of plans", he said. I've contacted the Chaotix and they're investigating Eggman Nega as well. They requested our help. In 1 week, we'll meet them at the designated rendezvous spot. Until then, we should lay low." Shadow's temper was flaring but he knew that Knuckles's plan was the best course of action. "Okay, I trust your judgement", Shadow said. The heroes flew back to Tails's island hideout until it was time to continue their operation.

Phase 2: Road to Ruin

One week had passed and it was time for Sonic and friends to meet with the Chaotix to plan their next move. The meeting place was Nova City, at a Dunkin Donuts restaurant. Shadow, Sonic, and Knuckles stood outside the entrance and waited for them to arrive. "Why here?", asked Shadow. "Well, this is a pretty inconspicuous place since they've never really done business in this city", replied Knuckles. "If they have to hide from Eggman Nega, then is seems like things are getting serious", Shadow said in a worried tone. Sonic patted Shadow on the back. "No worries, Shadow" he said. "I'm sure they'll be here soon. Anyway I'm kinda hungry so I'm gonna go in and get some food." "Sure", replied Shadow. The trio waited a little longer, until it was 20 minutes past the designated time. "What's taking them so long?", Shadow asked. "I've got a bad feeling about this…" Knuckles went inside the Dunkin Donuts and Shadow followed. They saw Sonic receiving his order at the cash register. "That line sure was long. But it was worth it for these jelly donuts!", Sonic said as he took a bite out of a donut. "You're such a clown", said Shadow. He was about to walk out and check if the Chaotix arrived, but something totally unexpected happened. An SUV skidded off the road at 90 mph and crashed through the window of the Dunkin Donuts, bursting into flames. The unlucky customers sitting at the tables on that side were blown to bits. The scene was so horrific that Shadow thought he was dreaming for a second. The restaurant was evacuated and the fire department was called. Shadow was still trying to piece together the hellish scene when he walked behind the SUV and noticed what was written on the bumper and spare tire. The words "HAIL SATAN" were written on it in red graffiti letters. It was clear who was behind this vicious suicide car bombing. Shadow shared this information with Sonic and Knuckles. He was about to bring them over to show them but he heard someone say "Hey! You're that black hedgehog from the news!" Shadow had been found out. Other people started to recognize him too. He heard one man say "Aren't you the one who destroyed that city? I bet you were behind this too!" Shadow grabbed Sonic and Knuckles and said "Let's get out of here before things get ugly." Sonic, Shadow, and Knuckles fled in order to escape detection from the public. They were running when suddenly a hand grabbed Shadow and pulled him into a back alley. Shadow was about to attack him, but this mysterious person motioned for him to stop. "Come with me, I have something to show you", he said. He brought Shadow along and Knuckles and Sonic followed.

Phase 3: A New Ally

Shadow was confused, but it seemed like this person didn't want to harm him. He followed him down some stairs to what looked like the basement of an abandoned apartment building where they stopped. Sonic asked "Who are you exactly?" Their mysterious comrade pulled his hood down and revealed himself. He was a light blue wolf in a gray hooded jacket and had a yellow lightning bolt mark on his chest. "The name's Tesla. Tesla the Wolf. "Nice to meet you, Tesla", said Sonic as he shook hands with the wolf. "I know all about you guys", Tesla said. "I'm not alone, either." He opened a trapdoor with an underground passage. The heroes proceeded down the passage and were greeted by a few familiar faces. The Chaotix were waiting for them. "Well, if it isn't Shadow", greeted Vector. Shadow was surprised. "So you were here all along?', he asked. Espio answered "Yeah. We had a hunch that something like that would happen so decided not to show up in person. We've been pretty successful thwarting Eggman Nega's plans lately, so his goons are after our heads." "Well, I'm just glad you're okay!" Sonic said with a smile. Shadow looked around the hideout, and he could tell that they had only started using it recently. He asked "What exactly is this place, and how long have you been here. Vector was about to answer but suddenly Charmy alerted them to some imminent danger. "There's a Shadow Android in the city!", he yelled. On one of the surveillance camera's outside, they could see a Shadow Android had just arrived in the city and it was causing chaos and destroying everything in its path. A bystander yelled "It's the black hedgehog! Run for your lives!" But the android heard him and flew up to him with its laser blades extended, slicing his head off. "Looks like this reunion will have to be cut short", said Shadow. "This is my responsibility so I'll take care of it." he was about to leave, but Tesla grabbed his shoulder and said "You mind having me tag along?" Shadow turned to him and said "Only if you're strong enough to pull your own weight." Tesla grinned and said "Trust me, you won't regret it." Tails walked up to them and asked "Well, if it's not too much of a problem, can you bring me that android's parts after you destroy it? I need to see exactly what these things are capable of." "Sure", nodded Shadow. "Now let's get moving!"

Shadow and Tesla arrived in the town as it was being ravaged by the Android. It was about to shred a pedestrian to bits, but Shadow spin dashed into its head and knocked it out of the way. However, the head didn't come off like the ones he fought before. "Weird", thought Shadow. "It must be a new model." The android had the standard Shadow colors, but also wore a booster pack attached to its back for extra speed, much like Metal Shadow's Hyper Thruster. It got up off the ground, and Shadow was about to attack it again, but Tesla told him "Hold up. Let me take this one." The Android started firing laser beams from its palms, but Tesla dodged and fired an electric blast from his hand and shouted "Thunder Charge!" It knocked the Android off its feet and seemed to stun it temporarily. Tesla charged his hand in electric energy and shouted "One more for the win! Thunder Fist!" The wolf jumped up and descended on the android with a powerful punch, blowing it to tiny pieces." Even Shadow was impressed. "Nice job", said Shadow. Tesla scratched his head and said "Yeah, but I don't think your fox friend will be able to salvage this." They were about to go back to the hideout when a group of Shadow Android Melee Types and Heavy Weapons Types appeared, ready to fight. Shadow grinned and said "Actually, I don't think that will be a problem."

Phase 4: Assault

There were a dozen Shadow Androids, six Melee Types and six Heavy Weapons Types. The Melee types were red with blue stripes and had steel blades extending from their wrists and their shoes. The Heavy Weapons types were blue with green stripes and had M20A1 FLASH rocket launchers mounted on their left shoulders and AGS-17 automatic grenade launchers mounted on their right hands. They were also larger that the standard androids so that their armaments wouldn't weigh them down. "Those are some nice weapons", Shadow said with a grin on his face. "But let's see if you know how to use them!" The melee types started rushing Shadow and Tesla and the heavy weapons types began firing grenades. The explosions were ripping the city apart. Shadow knew that he had to take out the ones with the grenades first in order to minimize the damage, but he couldn't get past the melee types. One of them tried to behead Shadow but he jumped out of the way just in time. He also narrowly avoided a grenade. Tesla was firing blots of lightning at the heavy weapons types and managed to take one out. The he grabbed a fallen stop sign and charged it with electricity, and began swinging it like a sword to use against the melee types. He was able to destroy two of them by slicing them in half. One of the heavy weapons types fired a grenade at Tesla but he just knocked it back right at him using the sign. If these androids had emotions, he would have shit himself in sheer terror at that moment. Once the grenade hit, it blew the android to bits. "Awww, yeah. Home run!" yelled Tesla triumphantly. Shadow took a crowbar and slammed it against the robot's head, but it didn't come off. Tesla yelled "That doesn't work on melee types, they're built from even more durable alloys!" The android slapped the crow bar out of Shadow's hand. Shadow jumped back, but the android shot an electro wire out of its palm, and it caught Shadow, shocking him with 400 volts of electricity. Shadow screamed in pain. Tesla jumped in and broke Shadow loose from the wire. "You okay?", asked Tesla. "I'm fine", replied Shadow. "But look out!" Three melee types converged on Tesla and ensnared him in their electro wires. They started electrocuting Tesla at high voltage. But Tesla was able to regain his composure. "That's a… pretty nice… ability you have there", he said. "But can you take what you dish out?" Tesla discharged at least a 1000 volts of electricity back at them through their electro wires. The androids couldn't handle it, so they overloaded, causing their heads to explode. Tesla grinned. "That was quite a shocking finish, don't you think?" But suddenly a melee type Shadow Android dashed up to him. "Look out", yelled Shadow. Tesla jumped back, but the android was blown up by a missile from one of its allies. "Some teamwork", Tesla said sarcastically. Shadow looked at the scattered parts and saw that one of the androids' auto grenade launchers was intact. "Cover me", he ordered Tesla. Shadow ran in and grabbed the grenade launcher while Tesla distracted the heavy weapons types. He unloaded all of the grenades at the remaining 4 heavy weapons types, turning them into scrap metal. One of the androids dodged the onslaught and tried to rush Tesla at close range, but Tesla took it out with a strong electric punch that broke off half its head, immobilizing it. "Checkmate", said Shadow triumphantly. Sonic ran in just as the battle ended. "Looks like I missed the party, huh?", Sonic said as he scratched his head. "Don't worry, we didn't need you anyway", replied Shadow. "But since you're here now, help us pick up these parts so we can bring them to Tails." Sonic nodded and reached for a head, but the damaged android from before got up behind him and opened its chest to reveal a hidden machine gun and opened fire. However, Tesla was fast enough to shoot Sonic out of the way with an electric blast and Shadow jumped in and used his Chaos Reflector to reflect its shots and destroy it. "Wow, that close! I owe you one", Sonic said to Tesla. "Don't mention it", Tesla replied. "Lets get back to the hideout, we have a lot to talk about."

Phase 5: Classified

Shadow, Sonic, and Tesla arrived back at the hideout and showed the newly acquired parts to Tails. "Thanks, guys", Tails said happily. "Once I've examined these, I'm sure I'll be able to find a way to counter them." "No problem, buddy", replied Sonic. "Always happy to help." Vector walked in and said "Hey guys, I have some important info to share with you so come to the lounge." Shadow and Sonic nodded and followed Vector. When they got to the room, Shadow sat down and asked "So what's this info you're talking about?" Vector replied "We've known Eggman Nega was active in this timeline for a few months now, but we couldn't figure out what he was up to. But, two months ago, Tesla joined us. With him, we've been able to unearth quite a few secrets that old man's been hiding. We might even be close to figuring out his master plan." "Oh, really?", asked Shadow. "You sound like you have a lot of faith in that kid. What exactly has he done to aid your investigation?" Tesla turned to Shadow and said "It's one of my abilities. I can use my tail as a radio transceiver to intercept wireless signals. I've been listening in on the communications between Eggman Nega, the Shadow Androids, and Satan's Disciples." "Heh, that's a handy ability you've got there!", replied Sonic. "Thanks", said Tesla with a grin. "I come from a long line of detectives, and my powers make this job that much easier!" "Yeah it really has!" said Vector. "With the information from the radio transmissions, we were able to find and shut down a few android production facilities, and aqcuire some blueprints of the early models. Plus, we have these…" Vector opened a compartment on his desk and pulled out two Chaos Emeralds. "Woah!", Shadow said in shock. "I can't believe it." Yup. We've taken two Emeralds out of Eggman Nega's clutches. That's already a huge improvement from before. During the early stages of our investigations, he had 5 emeralds, and that number increased to 6 after Metal Shadow stole one from that military facility 2 days before the attack on Central City. We know that since he has the Master Emerald, we have a long way to go, but at this rate, we have a good chance of beating him." Sonic nodded. "Speaking of Chaos Emeralds, Tails and Shadow found one after they beat Eggman. That makes 3! Tails is keeping it nice and safe on an island hideout he built." "That's great!", exclaimed Vector "I'll be sure to talk to him later. But I have one more thing to tell you." "What is it?", Shadow asked. Vector frowned and replied "We've found a few tidbits of information about some kind of program called the SIGMA system. We don't know exactly what it is, but it has something to do with Metal Shadow." "That doesn't sound good", said Shadow worriedly. "There's something else", interjected Espio. "Apparently Eggman Nega and Metal Shadow are after your DNA, Shadow." "Wh-What?" asked Shadow. "Why would they need that?" "I don't know", replied Espio, "but if it gets into that madman's hands, it would surely end in catastrophe for us all." Tesla put his hand on Shadow's shoulder. "Don't worry, dude. We won't let that happen", he said reassuringly. Vector walked out of the room. "It's late, so I'm gonna head to bed", he said. You guys are welcome to stay here for the night as well. Enjoy it while you can, because soon we're gonna be moving all this stuff out of here. We'll be moving to another headquarters in Nova City in a few weeks." "Sure thing, Vector", replied Shadow. "I'll get some rest to take my mind off things."

Phase 6: Hellfire

The next morning, Shadow woke up and ate breakfast. He wanted to ask Vector some questions, but he was nowhere to be found. "Where is that guy", asked Shadow in an annoyed tone. "Oh, if you're talking about Vector, then he went with Tails to that island hideout." Tesla said. "Tails wanted to compare the blueprints with the data he acquired from that prototype you fought before." Shadow was pissed and he also really needed a drink, but he couldn't go out to a liquor store because he knew someone would call the police on him. He just sat on the couch and tried to calm down. Unfotrunately, when he turned on the TV, the first thing he saw was a breaking news report. Several Shadow Androids were attacking a police station and fire department on the other side of town. "Shit", Shadow muttered under his breath. Sonic and Tails ran over to the TV. "I heard about what's happening" , said Espio. "What's worse, is there are a bunch of thugs taking advantage of the fact that the police have their hands tied and they're looting stores downtown!" "These androids picked the wrong day to mess with me", said Shadow in a pissed-off tone. "I'll destroy the androids. You two can take care of the looters." "Will do", replied Sonic. "I'll call Silver and Blaze too. C'mon, Espio, let's head out!" Shadow was about to leave but Tesla ran up to him. "You forget about me?", he asked. "Just... don't get in my way.", said Shadow as he walked out.

When they arrived at the scene, they found the police struggling to stay alive in the wake of an onslaught by Shadow Android Sniper Types and Artillery Types. And in what can only be described as some kind of sick joke, the fire department was up in flames, with most of the firefighters dead inside. One man was on fire and he ran about half a block before he collapsed and died from his injureies. His face was gruesomely disfigured and he had burns all over the front of his body. Shadow was shocked at the brutality exhibited by Eggman Nega. "That bastard must be insane…" he thought. But he didn't have much time to think about the situation because some androids spotted him. "Take cover!" he yelled as a Shadow Android Artillery Type opened fire on him. The Artillery Types were brown with white stripes and equipped with mostly anti-personnel heavy assault weapons, such as the GAU-2/A gatling gun. They also had 8-tube missile launchers mounted on the right shoulder. In case they ran out of ammo, they were equipped with backpacks carrying spare ammo for reloading. Perhaps their most horrific weapon was the "Firestorm" napalm launcher, which was used to send dozens of civilians, police and firefighters to a fiery grave. In battle, they took a more of a stationary role, simply staying behind the lines and providing suppressive fire. The Sniper Types were green with black stripes and were armed with M110 semi-automatic sniper rifles. These androids were built with an advanced targeting computer that could calculate the trajectory of the bullet and the percent chance of hitting a target in real time. With it, they were able to achieve pinpoint accuracy without even using a scope. Unlike the Artillery Types, they were able to stay mobile using the thrusters on their back binders, which, when not in use, could fold forward to reveal dual beam smart rifles, which could home in on heat signatures for increased accuracy. They could simply zip around a battlefield, sniping down targets one by one, that is, until the fuel for their thrusters ran out.

Shadow knew he and Tesla were probably at a disadvantage, but, by now he was used to fighting against the odds. "Chaos Illusion…", the hedgehog whispered as he quickly disappeared in a sea of illusory clones. Shadow figured he'd be able to trick the Androids into firing on the afterimages, but they continued to aim their shots at him. One round just grazed his cheek as he dashed across the battlefield. "They know it's me, huh? Well then I guess running and hiding won't do me any good then." Shadow pulled a door off a police car to use as a shield and ran toward a Sniper Type. It aimed its sniper rifle ready to shoot, but Shadow yelled "Don't even try it!", and threw the car door directly at it. It didn't take him out, but the attack was a good enough distraction to allow Shadow to get behind the android, tear it in half with his bare hands, and grab its sniper rifle. "Heh. Too easy", sneered Shadow. No AI in the world could outsmart the Ultimate Life-form. Meanwhile, Tesla was fighting Artillery Type androids and making sure the police got to safety. He took out half a dozen of them by overloading them with electricity. Suddenly, a Sniper Type android flew in and shot an officer twice in both of his eyes, killing him with almost comical accuracy. It stood on top of his police cruiser and started opening fire with its beam smart rifles to penetrate their defenses. "I can't let them kill any more innocent people", thought Tesla. The android took aim at one lone officer who had run out of ammo and fired its laser beam. The officer closed his eyes and braced himself for death, but Tesla jumped in front of him, absorbed the beam with one hand, and shot it back at the android with the other, destroying it. "Didn't expect that, did ya?" boasted the wolf. Tesla turned to the officer and said "Get out of here. We'll get rid of these things. "Th-thanks… you saved my life…", the officer replied in amazement. Shadow was looking on as well. "How the hell did you do that?", Shadow asked in amazement. "It's one of my special abilities", replied Tesla. "I can reroute electricity and other energy sources using my body. Comes in handy sometimes." Shadow thought that was total bullshit, but he didn't have a chance to voice his thoughts because an Artillery type fired a napalm bomb directly at him. Shadow jumped out of the way and narrowly avoided a painful death. "I can't take these things out using just a sniper rifle…", he said to himself worriedly. Shadow took cover behind a building and continued to fire at the Artillery Types, but one Sniper Type took notice and flew up to him. It stood on top of a truck and fired its beam smart rifle at Shadow. Shadow moved out of the way, but the beam curved in his direction and singed his arm. "Dammit", scowled Shadow."These things have tracking lasers too?" Shadow knew he needed to act fast. "No point in fighting a ranged battle when they have me outgunned like this", he thought. Shadow took a chance and jumped up on the truck that the sniper type was standing on. He dodged its laser shot by jumping over it, and then crushed his head. After looking down at the disabled android, Shadow had an idea. He pulled off its limbs and grabbed the torso with the beam smart guns attached and started firing at the Artillery Types. He took out two of them with ease. "Heh. Time to end this", the hedgehog said with a smile. He ran across the battlefield, firing the dual beam smart rifles attached to the android's torso, which he used for cover. The androids didn't know how to react to this, and actually thought one of their own units was firing at them. Once again, they were overwhelmed by Shadow's cunning. Just as the police had given up hope, Shadow stormed through the battlefield with his improvised weapon, blowing all of the androids to bits one by one with tracking lasers.

After all of the hostile units were destroyed, he simply tossed his weapon to the side like it was nothing. "Piece of cake", the hedgehog said. A police captain walked up to Shadow and asked "Are you that black hedgehog from the news. Shadow dryly replied, "Yeah, what of it?" The officer took off his hat and saluted Shadow saying "Thank you! You saved us… I guess I was wrong about you." "Don't mention it", said Shadow. After the battle, Shadow met up with Sonic. "How'd it go?", Shadow asked. "No problems at all", Sonic replied. "I taught those punks that crime doesn't pay!" Shadow face palmed and muttered "What a tool." Tesla walked up to them and said "You should have seen Shadow! He was dominating in that battle! I can see why he's called the Ultimate Life-form." Shadow chuckled. "Flattery will get you nowhere, kid. Let's go get some chili dogs at the mall." Sonic turned to Shadow. "Did somebody say chili dogs?", he asked. "How about I race you there? It'll be just like that time we raced on the Ark!" Shadow looked at Sonic and said "Challenge accepted." The two hedgehogs raced off into the city, leaving everyone else in the dust.

Phase 7: Hope

It had been one month since Shadow had met up with the Chaotix and Tesla. In those two weeks, they had shut down two robot production plants and greatly hampered Eggman Nega's plans. They hadn't seen much of the Androids or Satan's Disciples in the past few days. Things were looking up for Shadow, and it seemed like he could actually clear his name given some time. One day, he was sitting in the park reminiscing about the good old days with Maria when Tesla showed up. "What's up, Shadow?", the wolf asked. "Nothing, just sitting here and relaxing", Shadow replied. "But I do have something to tell you." "What is it?", asked Tesla curiously. Shadow stood up and said "Thank you for aiding me in my battle against Eggman Nega to prove my innocence. If it wasn't for you, I don't know where I'd be right now." Tesla laughed andd said. "Don't mention it, dude. It's our fight, too you know!" A few seconds later, Sonic dashed through the park at about 200 mph. Amy was chasing after him, exhausted. "Sonic, wait!", she yelled. Tesla went up to Amy and asked: "What's up?" "Sonic doesn't want to hang out at the mall with me!" Amy yelled. Tesla chuckled. "Oh, that's it?", the wolf said. "We'll hang out with you then. I need some time to relax after all that work and fighting anyway." Amy stood up. "Oh, well, that's fine I guess", she said. Tesla turned to Shadow and said "Come on, let's go!" Shadow had a nervous look on his face. "I have a bad feeling about this…" he said.

Shadow, Tesla, and Amy arrived at the Emerald Queen shopping mall. "Let's go to the arcade!", Amy said. The trio went to the arcade, but their time there was cut short when Shadow broke the Whack-a-Mole machine by hitting it too hard. The angry manager chased them out of the arcade and told them never to come there again. "Damn… I didn't think we were supposed to hold back…", Shadow said, embarrassed. "No problem", replied Tesla. "But what should we do next?" "Oh, look, laser tag!", yelled Amy, pointing in the direction of a laser tag arena. "You up for laser tag, Shadow?" Shadow was considering his options. "It seems like it would be good practice for real gunfights… fine, I've decided." Shadow, Amy, and Tesla played laser tag for an hour. After they were done, it was Shadow who had the highest score of anyone there, and he didn't even get hit once. Shadow looked at the high score monitor displaying his name and score. "Not bad, huh?", he boasted arrogantly. After laser tag, they got a bite to eat, and spent some time just looking around the area. Amy spotted a shopping center. "Oooh, look at all the pretty clothes!", she said as she stared at them with gleaming eyes. Amy went off looking for new clothes while Shadow and Tesla stayed behind. Shadow saw one dress that reminded him of Violet. "I wonder where she is now", he thought. Tesla saw Amy with a bag of clothes and walked up to her. "Hey, can we go now?", he asked. "It's getting kinda boring here." Amy waggled a finger in his face. "Not yet", she said. "I still have to try these on." Amy went into the dressing room while the boys waited. "I don't understand why women are so fascinated with expensive clothes…" said Shadow in an incredulous tone. "Me neither", replied Tesla. After about half an hour, Amy walked back out holding a pink frilly dress. "Shadow, look!", she said. "I have the prefect dress for you. Come here and try it on!" "N-No way in hell!", stammered Shadow nervously. "Pink just isn't my color." "Come on, just do it for me, please?", begged Amy. If it looks good on you, I'll even pay for it myself." Shadow stepped back. "Stay away from me!", he yelled. "Amy got pissed and took out her hammer. "Fine, if you wont try it on, then I'll make you!", she yelled. She chased Shadow around the store, swinging her hammer until Shadow eluded her using his Chaos Illusion technique. Shadow and Tesla had run off to another store. "Holy… shit.", Shadow said has he gasped for breath. "Now I know why Sonic's always running from her. She's annoying as hell!" Tesla nodded. "So, what are you gonna do?" he asked. Shadow regained his composure and stood up. "Let's ditch her", he said. "She'll probably keep running around the mall thinking we're here, and she doesn't know where the Chaotix are staying. Come on." "Fine by me", Tesla said with a smile.

Phase 8: Redemption

Shadow and Tesla got back to the hideout after a minor detour at Gamestop to buy Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. "I can't wait to pop this baby in", Tesla said, drooling from anticipation. Shadow smirked. "Well, turn on the TV and let's get to playing!", he said. Tesla turned on the TV, but the first thing he saw was a breaking news report. A female fox reporter was a few block away from the mall that they just left. "A few minutes ago, this popular downtown shopping mall was swarmed by robotic copies of the wanted criminal, Shadow the Hedgehog", she said. "Also, I have just received word that the military is on its way to quell this uprising. I advise anyone watching this report: please stay inside and don't go anywhere near the Emerald Queen shopping mall, as this is an incredibly dangerous and unpredictable situation." teals turned off the TV. "Shit", muttered Shadow. "I don't think we should have left Amy there…" "We have to get over there, right now", Tesla replied nervously. " Come on, let's head out."

Shadow and Tesla reached the mall to find a scene of utter chaos awaiting them. The area was taped off and there were tons of police officers stationed outside, getting ready to enter. Tesla was about to run directly in through the police barricades, but Shadow stopped him. "I don't want any more publicity", the hedgehog said. "We're sneaking in through the back. If the news crews don't see us, then we won't have to worry about fighting against the police, or worse, the military. We're only going to stay here 15 minutes, tops. After that, we're getting the hell out." Tesla turned to Shadow. "So, we're going to use that move, then?", he asked. "Shadow looked at him with a mischievous smile. "Hell yeah, we are", he replied. Shadow and Tesla snuck in through the back and reached the metaphorical eye of the storm, where they found about 2 dozen Shadow Android Heavy Weapons Types, many of them armed with laser cannons, and also a few Melee Types thrown in for good measure. The androids were attacking civilians and destroying the facility. Shadow tossed a table at a group of them to get their attention. "Catch me if you can, motherfuckers!", he taunted. The androids took their attention off the shoppers and started chasing Shadow. Shadow motioned to Tesla to come with him and they both ran through the mall until they reached a narrow corridor leading to the basement. "Let's do this", said Shadow. As the androids started crowding into the corridor, Shadow rolled up into a ball and Tesla charged him with a surge of electricity. He yelled "ElectroSphere!" and propelled Shadow down the narrow hallway filled with androids, taking out 10 of them with one attack.

"Awww shit, motherfuckin deca-kill!", yelled Tesla as he jumped into the air. Shadow walked back to Tesla. "High five!", said Shadow. "Now let's take out the rest of the androids." "There were more following us, but I don't see them here", Tesla said cautiously. Suddenly they saw a huge explosion in a hallway with mechanical parts flying everywhere. And when the smoke cleared, they saw none other than Amy, walking up to them with her hammer in hand. "Where the hell were you guys?", yelled Amy. "You left me all alone and then these robots showed up! Sonic would never do anything like that!", she said furiously. "No, actually he does it every other day", replied Shadow dryly. "But we have bigger problems to worry about. Tesla and Amy, you two get the rest of the civilians to safety. As for me, I'll get rid of the rest of these androids." "Fine", said Amy reluctantly. "But when you get back, I'm gonna give you a stern talking-to!" Shadow chuckled. "Who says I'm going to be here after I'm done?", he joked. "Get your jobs done, you two", Shadow said as he jumped into a ventilation shaft up above. "Grrr… Who does he think he is?", growled Amy.

Shadow exited the vent, snuck up on a couple of androids and destroyed them with a Chaos Blast. He didn't see any more near him so he decided to escape before he was detected by the authorities. "I'll just leave the rest to the army", the thought as he retraced his steps back to the emergency exit he entered through. However, the army was waiting for him outside. "Surrender now!", a general said. "We have you outnumbered and surrounded!" "No, I'm not the one who caused this", pleaded Shadow. "Those androids aren't allied with me at all. I just destroyed a dozen of them." The general wasn't convinced. "Don't play dumb with me", he said. "I heard reports that you were here earlier. Surveying the area to plan your attack?"

"You're wrong!", replied Shadow. "And you're making a big mistake by going up against me!" The soldiers paid no heed. "Are you ready, men!", the general shouted. "Now take aim and fi-" He was stopped mid-sentence when a huge laser ripped through the ground, vaporizing half a dozen soldiers. "What the hell?", asked Shadow, taken by surprise. He looked up behind him and saw two Shadow Androids atop the roof of the mall, armed with laser cannons. The second one had just finished charging his laser, and took aim directly at the general in the tank. It let loose with the intent to kill, but Shadow jumped in front of the laser to protect him. "Chaos Reflector!", yelled the hedgehog. Shadow put up a shield around himself, but it was to no avail. The beam was too powerful and it broke the shield, and Shadow was hit with the full force of the attack. He was burned and struggling to get back up. "What the…? Why would this hedgehog do that?", thought the general. The Androids were about to fire again, but Amy snuck up behind them and pounded them into scrap. Tesla saw the attack and rushed to Shadow's aid. "What happened? Are you okay?", he asked. Shadow stood up. "I'm.. fine…" he said. One of the soldiers ran to their commanding officer. "What should we do with the hedgehog?", he asked. The commanding officer thought for a few minutes and said, "We're leaving. We'll tell them that Shadow escaped us. It's the least we can do. Let's move out, men." The soldiers packed up and left as Amy jumped down to Shadow. "Are you doing okay?", Amy asked. Shadow nodded. "I've seen better days, but I'll manage". "Then take this!", Amy yelled as she smacked Shadow in the face with her hammer, knocking him out. "That's what you get for ditching me. What do you have to say for yourself?" Tesla stepped back. "Uhhh… I don't think he can hear you", the wolf said. Amy picked up her bags of clothes and started walking away. "See you later!", she said. Tesla went after her. "Wait, can't you help me carry Shadow back to the hideout?" "Nope, can't hear ya!", replied Amy as she skipped home merrily. Tesla picked the unconscious Shadow up and started carrying him to the hideout. "Heh, looks like more game time for me", he said with a smirk.


	5. No Mercy

Act V: No Mercy

Phase 1: Relocation

A week after the mall incident, Shadow was at the hideout hanging out as usual, however, he didn't see Espio or Vector anywhere. "What are you looking for?", Tesla asked him. "This place is empty", replied Shadow. "Where did everyone go? And where the hell's the PS3?" Tesla laughed. "They cleared most of that stuff out yesterday.", he said. Today's the day we move to a new headquarters." "Really?" asked Shadow. "Where's Vector then?" As soon as he said that, Tesla's transmitter rang. "He's calling me", Tesla said. Vectors face appeared on screen. "Tesla, Shadow, I've got a job for you to do!", he said. "We're moving our stuff to the new headquarters. I'll give you the location, and you guys unload the stuff off the moving truck. Make sure you don't break anything!", he warned.

The transmission cut off. "Well, it looks like we have a new mission", said Tesla. "Not much of a mission", Shadow replied. "But let's get out of here, I'm getting bored. Tesla and Shadow rode their motorcycles downtown to the new Chaotix HQ. "It looks awesome", said Shadow as he looked up at the entrance in amazement. "We're some of the only people who know this location. It's a pretty big secret.", Tesla said proudly. Shadow saw the movers carrying boxes inside. "Well, it looks like we have to help them", said Shadow in an annoyed tone. Shadow took a box inside the building. One of the movers walked up to him and said "Your boss said we should put the stuff in the attic." Shadow nodded and walked up to the attic where he saw Tesla and a pile of boxes waiting for him. "So, what's so special about this place anyway?", Shadow asked Tesla. Tesla pointed to the security camera on the ceiling and said "This place has some of the most advanced security outside of the military. Not to mention impenetrable defenses." Shadow smirked. "Well, as long as it's safe, I have no objections", he said. Tesla started going downstairs. "I'm gonna go… uh… supervise the movers so they don't break stuff. I'll be back when they're done." Shadow rolled his eyes. "So you're leaving me to unpack this stuff by myself?", the hedgehog asked. Tesla walked up to Shadow and handed him a box cutter. "Shut the hell up and do your job", Tesla said sarcastically. Shadow went over to the boxes to start opening them when he saw the windows sealed with titanium shutters. "What was that?' he thought. Shadow walked down to the first floor where he saw Tesla. "What happened?", asked Shadow. Tesla shrugged. "A test of the security system? I dunno." All of the doors and windows were sealed shut with nearly impenetrable titanium. A couple movers walked up to Shadow and Tesla. "Hey you two", Shadow called out. "What happened with the security system?" But the two movers said nothing. One opened his jacket to reveal an explosive vest and the other pulled a Molotov cocktail from behind his back. "Welcome to hell", he said. "Enjoy the ride."

Phase 2: Hell's Warm Welcome

Shadow and Tesla were trapped. Somehow, Satan's Disciples had infiltrated the Chaotix HQ and sabotaged the defense system. They were really in a bind this time. "Dammit, how could we have been tricked like this?", Shadow muttered to Tesla. But there was no time to think. A few more gang members appeared out of their hiding places. Tesla looked at Shadow, nodded, and they split up. Shadow went for the guy holding the Molotov cocktail. _"Burn to ashes!"_, the gang member said. He threw it, but he didn't know that Shadow could warp. Shadow caught the Molotov cocktail and warped behind him, then smashed it over his head, setting it aflame. Then Shadow warped in front of him and used the box cutter to slit his throat. "This is what happens to people who decieve the Ultimate Life-form", said Shadow to the gang member as he slowly bled out and burned to death on the floor. The guy with the explosive vest was running toward Tesla, trying to take the wolf to hell with him. "Who wants a hug?", the gang member said menacingly. Tesla saw that there were two more gang members with grenades running up to him. "Not today", the wolf said. Thinking on his feet, Tesla kicked him into the two gang members and jumped back, firing an electric blast to set off the explosives in the vest. Those three gang members were incinerated by the flames instantly. More gang members were headed down the stairs from the upper floor. They were armed with grenades, and the one in the middle had a flamethrower attached to a large propane tank on his back. One of them yelled. "Take this, you piece of shit!", and threw an incendiary grenade at Shadow. Shadow jumped out of the way and yelled to Tesla "Get over here, now! It's time!". Tesla ran over to Shadow and Shadow rolled up into a ball for the ElectroSphere. _"Get the fuck out of my face!"_, yelled Tesla as he propelled Shadow at the 8 gang members as they got down from the stairs. Shadow ripped through their bodies at a speed of nearly 300 mph. The electricity from the attack lit the propane from the flamethrower's tank on fire, setting their corpses ablaze. The stairway was also on fire, cutting off passage to the first floor. "Stay there!", yelled Shadow. "I'll find another way down." Tesla nodded.

Tesla turned around and looked for something he could use to put out the fire, but a stream of flame stopped him in his tracks. Another gang member was wielding a flamethrower, and 2 others were tossing incendiary grenades at him. "Damn, I cant take these guys on like this", Tesla thought to himself. He ran back and started firing electric blasts from a distance, but smoke from the fires was obscuring his vision. Out of nowhere, a gang member wielding two butcher knives lunged at Tesla, slashing him in the chest. Tesla screamed in pain and fell backwards. "I'm going to cut you up into pieces and serve you to Lord Ragnarok", the knife wielding gang member said. He swung at Tesla's neck, but he was stopped about an inch from his target. Shadow was standing behind him, glaring. "Nobody lays a hand on my comrades", Shadow said in a rage. He snapped the gang member's arm, grabbed the butcher knife, and cut his head clean off his shoulders. "Can you still fight?", Shadow asked as he turned to Tesla. Tesla struggled to get to his feet. "It's not a deep wound, I can keep going", he grunted through clenched teeth. "Okay", Shadow replied. Now we just need to-" Shadow stopped as a billowing flame shot out in front of him. Shadow pushed Tesla out of the way. "Heh, I got you now, bitches", said a gang member as he pointed the flamethrower nozzle at Shadow and Tesla. He fired, but Shadow was one step ahead of him. He yelled "Chaos Reflector" and reflected the flames back at the gang member, setting him on fire and causing a chain reaction with the propane in the tank that blew him to bits.

A gang member with a Mohawk ran up the stairs to the basement with 3 other subordinates. He was armed with a Remington 870 pump-action shotgun loaded with Dragon's Breath incendiary rounds. He yelled "For the glory of Satan!", firing a shot into the air, and ran forward to Shadow. However, he tripped over the decapitated gang member's head and dropped his gun near Shadow's feet. "You've really fucked up this time", said Shadow callously as he picked up the shotgun and pointed it at the man at point-blank range. The hedgehog pulled the trigger and set his body on fire. The man didn't die instantly; he was screaming and flailing around in pain for about 5 minutes, but Shadow paid no mind. He cocked his gun and slowly walked toward the remaining gang members. "Burn that motherfucker to death!", one of them yelled as he threw a grenade. It seemed like it was a direct hit, but Shadow actually used Chaos Illusion and then warped behind them. "Sayonara, bitches", said Shadow as he blasted a gang member's head off with his shotgun at point blank range. He unloaded flaming death on the other four without even hesitating. Shadow looked down at a dying gang member and thought "This is strange. They're attacking with no regard for their own safety… it's like they plan to die too. Why…?" Shadow turned to Tesla and yelled. "We're getting out of here now! I'm breaking through!" Shadow went up to a sealed window and then punched it, but his punch barely put a dent in it. "What the hell…?", the hedgehog thought."Well, it looks like I'm gonna have to pull out all the stops. Tesla, move back!", Shadow yelled. Tesla nodded and ran out of the way. "CHAOS BLAST!" yelled Shadow as he attacked with all his power. But the attack only slightly bent the reinforced window. "Dammit. We could be here for a while.", grunted Shadow angrily. But just as they said that, a hidden door opened. Nero was standing outside holding a strange looking handheld gadget and behind him were half a dozen gang members with gas masks and other equipment. Nero looked across the room and saw Shadow and Tesla. "Those two are still alive, huh? No matter. Eliminate them and retrieve the bodies", the gray hedgehog said coldly.

Phase 3: Pyromania

Nero used his device to close the door he entered through. "He shouldn't be able to control the security system", Shadow thought. "How badly have we been duped?" The six gang members crowded around Shadow and got ready to subdue him with electric nets, but Tesla fired a bolt of lightning at them. "I'll distract these guys. You need to get the device from that hedgehog!", Tesla yelled. Shadow nodded. He ran into the smoke for cover while Shadow confronted Nero. "Long time no see", said Nero sarcastically. "You bastards have reached a new low", Shadow said disgustedly. "No regard for human life, and now you're even using suicide bombers? What the hell is wrong with you!?" Nero looked at Shadow and said "You are not capable of comprehending the grand scheme of Lord Ragnarok's plan. The people you fought here were well aware that they would most likely die, so they used suicide tactics for efficiency. Besides, they know that those who carry out Satan's will are rewarded in hell where they become Demon Warriors of the highest order." Shadow rolled his eyes. "That's a load of bullshit and you know it", he said. Nero shrugged and said "Maybe. But it doesn't matter as long as Lord Ragnarok is able to realize his ambition."  
Shadow grabbed a knife from the floor and pointed it at Nero. "I've had it up to here with you bastards", the black hedgehog said. "I'm going to purge you and your stupidity from this earth for good!" Nero sighed. "Then stop talking and trying to make cool poses. Just fight me."

Shadow used Chaos Illusion to create about a dozen illusory clones but Nero knew what was coming next. The real Shadow teleported behind him, but Nero predicted this move and grabbed Shadow by, the arm, slamming him into a wall. "Predictable as always", the gray hedgehog remarked flatly. "How did he know what I was going to do?", Shadow thought to himself. "It looks like cheap tricks wont work on this bastard." Shadow kicked Nero back and lunged at him, knife in hand, but Nero was able to dodge every swipe and stab Shadow threw at him. Nero cloaked his leg in flames, and kicked Shadow in his side, right in the spot where he was wounded a week ago during the Shadow Android raid at the mall. "Shit… ugh…", grunted Shadow as he fell to the ground, clutching his wound. "Looks like you havent completely healed yet", Nero said as he looked down on Shadow. "How are you able to… predict my… moves?", Shadow said as he struggled to get up. "It's quite simple, actually", Nero replied as he twirled a strand of his hair. "You thought you had the advantage over us, but during this past month, all we've been doing is collecting battle data from you. Metal Shadow and Eggman Nega installed a special interface on the newer android models that collects battle data in real time, and sends it directly to their main computer for analysis. We know all about your special moves and we've extensively analyzed your attack patterns. By their calculations, your injury has you at 70% battle efficiency, and that's just enough for me to take you down." Nero increased the temperature of his body to 400 degrees Celsius and stepped on Shadow's wound, causing him extreme pain. "Dammit! AAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHH!", screamed Shadow as Nero started grinding his heel into Shadow's head sadistically. "Eggman Nega was always one step ahead of you", the hedgehog said. "Those parts you collected and gave to Tails were bugged. That's how we were able to learn your secrets. If you weren't such an arrogant fool, maybe you would have realized before it was too late!"

Shadow was struggling to break himself free. He reached for the knife, but Nero saw him and kicked him out of the way. The gray hedgehog picked it up and heated the blade to the point where it was red-hot. "I'll show you what real pain is", said Nero as he walked toward Shadow with the heated knife in hand. But he was stopped when a body thrown directly at him knocked him off his feet. It was Tesla, who had come to Shadow's aid just in time. "Shadow, just stay where you are. I'll get the device and we'll get the hell out of here!" Tesla fired a lightning bolt at Nero, hitting his arm. Nero tried to throw the heated knife, but his arm was temporarily paralyzed by the electricity and he dropped it. "Interesting…" said the gray hedgehog. Tesla continued firing bolts of lightning from a distance, but Nero was able to block the attacks with his free arm. Tesla rushed at Nero, generating an electric blade from his hand. "Electro Sword!", yelled the wolf as he swung at Nero." Tesla tried to cut off his arm, but the blade only cut him an inch deep. Nero retaliated with a superheated punch that sent Tesla flying into a wall. "Don't… try to fight… him…", said Shadow as he struggled to get to his feet. "I'll finish this… myself…" Shadow began taking off his limiter rings, but Tesla lunged at Nero again, this time stabbing him through the stomach with his electric blade. Nero was unresponsive for a minute, but he regained consciousness and kicked Tesla down. "It looks like I'll have to end this now", Nero said as he picked up a propane tank. Shadow was about to rush to Tesla's aid, but he fell down due to a combination of his injuries and disorientation from smoke inhalation. "Tesla.. Get out of her…", said Shadow as he fell to the floor. "Burn in hell!", Nero shouted as he threw the propane tank at Tesla. Tesla dodged it by a few inches, but the tank exploded in flames when it touched the flames on the ground. Tesla caught on fire and screamed out in pain. His screams jolted Shadow out of his disoriented state "Tesla! No!" Shadow yelled. "I have to find something to put out that fire…", Shadow thought as he looked around the room. Through the smoke, Shadow saw a hose across the room. "There!" Shadow yelled. He warped over to the hose and grabbed it, running over to Tesla, while Nero just stood there and watched apathetically. Shadow sprayed water from the hose onto Tesla, but the flames somehow grew to twice the size as before. "What the fuck? That's impossible!", yelled Shadow. Nero chuckled. "That's not water._ It's gasoline_", the gray hedgehog said. Shadow dropped to his knees in shock. "We planned for this place to go up in flames from the very start", Nero said. "We rigged the water main in the building to connect to an underground gas pipeline, just to make sure no one made it out alive. Just know this, Shadow. No matter how fast you run, no matter where you hide, you'll never escape from Satan's Disciples." Tesla had stopped screaming and had finally succumbed to the flames. "Shit… I failed", the hedgehog said as he fell to the ground. "Shadow… Vector… I'm… sorry."

Phase 4: Rest in Peace

Shadow got up and looked at Nero with rage and overwhelming killing intent in his eyes. "You… you killed him… _YOU FUCKING SON OF A BITCH!_" Shadow had broken off his limiters with a wave of energy. His aura had become more dark and sinister, but Nero seemed unfazed. "Still not 100 percent", the gray hedgehog said apathetically. _"I'M GOING TO TEAR THE LIFE AWAY FROM YOUR BODY IN THE MOST PAINFUL WAY IMAGINABLE!"_, yelled Shadow at the top of his lungs. _"YOU'RE GOING TO HELL, RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!"_ Shadow flew at Nero and began brutally choking and punching him. "DIE, MOTHERFUCKER, DIE!", Shadow yelled, as he slammed Nero into a reinforced titanium window. Nero shook him off; he was bloody but he could still fight. "Now this is a real fight", the gray hedgehog said as he wiped some blood of his face. As the Chaotix HQ fell apart around them, the two hedgehogs traded blows that would instantly kill any normal person. Shadow's body was badly damaged, but he was so focused on killing Nero that he didn't even notice. Shadow finally knocked Nero down and seemed to break his left arm. Nero was on the floor struggling to get up. Shadow took this opportunity to break off the hinge of a door to use as a makeshift stabbing weapon. He warped above Nero and yelled "It's over!", but suddenly Shadow fell to the ground, unable to move. "No way", thought Shadow. "I'm out of energy already?" Nero stood up and popped his arm back in place. "I admit, that was close, but in the end it went just according to our calculations", the gray hedgehog said emotionlessly. "It was pretty hard, holding back so as not to destroy your body. I'll still need to kill you though, just to make sure you don't try anything." He grabbed the broken door hings out of Shadow's hand. "Your time has come, Shadow." He held the door hinge up to Shadow's neck, but suddenly a laser shot through a wall, blowing it open. Nero jumped back in shock. "What? They shouldn't be alive", the gray hedgehog said in shock. It was Sonic and Tails in the X Divider plane. "Change of plans", Nero said. "I'll have to kill you another day. Enjoy the time that you have left." With those words, Nero disappeared in a plume of black flames. Sonic jumped out of the plane. "Shadow, are you okay? Can you move?", he asked. Shadow didn't answer. Tails landed his plane and ran up to them "Shadow are you… oh no…" "What is it, Tails?", asked Sonic. "It's Tesla", Tails said, horrified. "he's…" Sonic turned around and saw the horrific sight firsthand.

It was two days after that fateful day. Tesla had been buried at an undisclosed location and Shadow and the Chaotix had put up a memorial near the ruined headquarters. They couldn't even have a proper funeral because they knew it would be the perfect time for Satan's Disciples to strike. Back at the temporary hideout, Shadow discussed events with the others. "What's the situation?", Shadow asked Tails over his transmitter. "It's not good", said Tails. "The island hideout was invaded by androids and Satan's disciples. We were able to get out okay, but they stole all 3 of our emeralds, and destroyed the island with a nuke. We just barely escaped in one piece…" Shadow frowned. "But I do have something good to tell you", the fox added. "I've just finished building my new battleship. It should be good enough to take on Eggman Nega's forces." "Good job, Tails. I'm closing communications.", Shadow said as he turned off the transmitter. "I've decided", the black hedgehog said. "Tonight at midnight, we're going to use the coordinates gained by Tesla and Tails to attack Eggman Nega. We'll eliminate all of his forces and retake the emeralds." Sonic stood up. "Are you sure now is the right time? I mean we're not even-" "Shut up", interjected Shadow. "You are ridiculously incompetent, to the point that you couldn't even stop a bunch of robots and ragtag gang members from stealing our Emeralds. Your suggestions mean nothing." Sonic looked down at his feet and then sat back down. Knuckles entered the room. "I have good news. Rouge and Omega will be joining us as well. We're going to track down that Master Emerald before that bastard uses it for something crazy." Shadow nodded. "Then we're all set. Any objections?" He looked around but nobody said anything, maybe because they were afraid. "Good", said Shadow. "We're setting out at midnight tonight. I'm not going to let Tesla's death be in vain."

Phase 5: Countdown to Carnage

It was 11:00 P.M, one hour before the planned attack. Shadow was inside Tails's new battleship, the Phoenix, drinking some Jack Daniels to calm his nerves. "Soon, it'll all be over", the hedgehog thought. Sonic walked up to Shadow and sat across from him. "Shadow… I don't think this is the best time to be drinking…", the blue hedgehog said cautiously. "Don't tell me what to do", replied Shadow. "Even when I'm drunk, I'm 10 times the fighter you'll ever be." Sonic stood up. "I don't appreciate your attitude", he said angrily. "_Attitude?_ You fucking imbecile! We wouldn't be in such a bad situation right now if you hadn't somehow lost 3 emeralds and gotten Tails's base nuked!", retorted Shadow in a rage. "I don't understand how you've become so useless." Sonic sat down. "You don't understand", he said sadly. "I had my hands tied. Satan's Disciples took Tails at gunpoint and forced me to hand the Emeralds over. There was nothing I could do…" "Why not just shoot the motherfuckers down?", Shadow asked. "I… I…couldn't", stammered Sonic. "Stop talking", interjected Shadow. "I don't think I'll be able to hold back from bashing your goddamn head in if I hear any more bullshit. Just get the fuck out of my face."

Half an hour later, Tails announced over the intercom system that they were nearing the destination. "We've almost reached Eggman's location!", the fox said. "Everybody, get ready!" Omega walked up to Shadow. "All weapons fully loaded. Performance at 100%", said the robot. "Good", replied Shadow. "You know the plan, right?" "Obliterate all targets and exterminate Eggman Nega", Omega replied. "Good job", said Shadow as he patted Omega on the back. "I'm counting on you." Shadow and Knuckles were looking out the window, but they didn't see anything but a large stretch of desert. "The coordinates say this is the place, but there's nothing here", said Knuckles with a frown. Suddenly the ground started shaking and something started rising out of the sand. "Woah, what the fuck?", exclaimed Knuckles as he was taken off guard. A huge structure rose out of the ground, and as the sand cleared, they saw it was an amusement park. "What the hell?", thought Shadow. "Does that motherfucker think this is some kind of joke?" "We're landing now". announced Tails. "You guys infiltrate the facility on the ground. Me, Vector, and Knuckles will be operating the Phoenix from the air. Rouge had the X-Divider. Let's move out!" Shadow, Sonic, Silver, Omega, Espio, Charmy, Blaze, and Amy exited the battleship, ready to begin their assault. But just as they stepped down onto land. Eggman Nega's voice rang out for everyone to hear. "Welcome to my wonderful amusement park!", the mad scientist said. "Feel free to visit all of my attractions. But don't let your gurad down, or you might find a nasty surprise. _Hahahahaha!_"

Right after Eggman Nega's announcement, huge numbers of Satan's Disciples and Shadow Androids marched out of the attractions, heavily armed. "Shit, we're outnumbered. Take cover!", Shadow yelled. He ran behind the front gates along with the others. "What do we do now?", asked Espio. Omega stood up. "Targets sighted. Commencing hostilities.", said the robot. He began flying above the battlefield and he opened fire with the gatling guns hidden in his arms, tearing apart the gang members closest to the gates. "I have an idea", Shadow said. "He turned on his communicator. "Tails, do me a favor", he said. "Sure what is it?" the fox asked. "I need an air strike. Turn 45 degrees right and drop a few missiles near the carousel." "But Shadow, that's dangerous, you guys could get caught in the-" "Damn it, just follow my orders!", an angry Shadow yelled. "We're here to kill everything in our path, and if you're not prepared for that, then go the fuck home and play with your toy planes or something." Tails reluctantly agreed "Yes, sir", said the fox. "Vector, fire the missiles." Vector pressed the missile switch and fired 3 missiles at the area near the carousel. The gang members standing there tried to run away, but were blown to a million pieces. The carousel also blew up and the carousel horses went flying in all directions and started exploding, taking out over a dozen gang members and androids. "H-Holy shit, what's going on here!" , said one gang member. "I can't do this… I'm out of here!" he started running, but was taken down by about 10 bullets from Omega. "Target exterminated", the robot said as he reloaded. Sonic and the others looked on in awe. "Shadow, how did you know there were explosives in that carousel", Espio asked. "Just a gut feeling", Shadow replied. "But it's not over yet. Follow me!" Eggman Nega's soldiers ran away from the missile attack and converged in perfect formation for Shadow to take them out using his new technique. Shadow ran out and materialized a long, spinning red spear of pure energy. He took aim and threw it with all his power, yelling _"Chaos Javelin!"_ The farther the spear flew, the larger it became, and its rotational speed increased as well. Everything in the attack's range was torn to pieces. There was a huge trail of mechanical parts and severed limbs leading to a large circus tent he had blown open. The gang members and robots started pulling back and it was the perfect time for Shadow's forces to advance. "Come on, we're breaking through!" Shadow yelled. He ran ahead into center of the amusement park with his comrades following. Little did they know they would be in for one hell of a scare.

Phase 6: Demonic Carnival

Shadow went through the destroyed circus tent and saw a ton of attractions lying ahead. "Damn, this isn't going to be easy", he thought. Silver ran up to Shadow. "Where do you think we should go?", Silver asked. "No idea", replied Shadow with his arms crossed. "There's probably something that can kill us in every single one of these attractions, so finding the Master Emerald will be quite the ordeal," Shadow heard his transmitter ringing and turned it on. Knuckles's face was shown on the screen. "What is it?", Shadow asked. "It's weird", replied Knuckles. "I can sense the Emerald, but it feels like its way below me…" Shadow face palmed. "That's because your in the sky, dumbass." Knuckles shook his head. "No, that's not it", the echidna said. "I think it's underground. The signal is weaker than normal." Shadow began examining his options. "If your the guardian, then I think I can take you're word for it", he said. "I assume all of these attractions are deathtraps then.", interrupted Silver. "Are we supposed to dig underground or something to find the emeralds?" "That's fucking stupid", retorted Shadow cynically. "There must be a passageway inside one of these structures. Only problem is, we don't have time to check all of them because reinforcements are on their way." "How about we split up?", suggested Silver. "Good plan. Listen up guys", said Shadow to the rest of the team. "We're splitting up into 2 teams. Me, Silver, Sonic, and Omega are the first team. Blaze, Amy, Espio and Charmy are team 2. We'll split up and check these places for any hidden passages. And if we keep moving, it's be hard to track us down as well." "Good plan", said Blaze as she gave Shadow a thumbs up. Everybody else was in agreement. "Then it's settled", announced Shadow. "My team is going to check out the haunted house. Remember, stay on guard."

Shadow's team made their way to the House of Horrors, which looked pretty low tech compared of everything else in Eggman Nega's amusement park, but by now they knew that looks could be deceiving. When they entered the building it was pitch black with a few flickering lights. "How are we supposed to see in here?", asked Silver. Omega stood in front of the group. "Infrared night vision activated. I will be your guide", said the robot. "Thanks. I'm counting on you", replied Shadow. Omega guided the team through the rundown haunted house. Through the faint glow of the lights that were still functional, the team could see skeletons and zombies lining the walls. "This place is pretty creepy, huh guys?", said Sonic. "Don't be a pussy", replied Shadow. "After we finish our sweep of the area, we're out of here." As they continued down the path, they saw a zombie hanging from the wall upside down. Sonic went up to it for a closer look, and to his horror, he saw that it wasn't a prop at all. there were maggots crawling out of its empty eye sockets and it had a look of abject horror frozen on its face. Sonic jumped back _"Holy sh_- I mean whoa, didn't expect that", said the hedgehog nervously. Omega scanned it and said "Decomposing human remains identified. Time of death estimated to be in the last 4 days." "What a sick bastard", said Shadow with a look of disgust on his face. "Who the fuck decorates a theme park attraction with dead bodies?" "What about the others, were they actual bodies too?", Silver asked. "Affirmative", replied Omega. "No real threat detected." Once Shadow reached the exit, there were no hidden passages to be found. "I feel like we've missed something", the black hedgehog said. "Maybe we should take another look". "No way!", said Sonic, shaking his head. "Why'd you wanna go back in there?" "Shut up and stay here", replied Shadow. Shadow went back into the House of Horrors and saw a side exit, so he went to check it out. There was a dead man with a few bullet holes in his head hanging from a noose in front of a door. "Let's see what we've got here", said Shadow as he pushed the body out of the way. However, that triggered a trapdoor. Shadow fell down a deep pit and got caught in a noose that almost snapped his neck. "What the hell", the hedgehog thought as he tried to pull himself free. Suddenly, a massive circular saw blade swung forward toward him while he was still hanging by the noose. Shadow pulled himself up just in time and grabbed the steel beam that the circular saw was attached to, but that se off another trap. A huge flamethrower at the bottom of the pit activated and shot a huge column of flame upwards toward him. "Holy shit!"thought Shadow. But then he had an idea. "Chaos Reflector!", yelled Shadow as he generated a shield of energy to block the flames. The flames were too large to be reflected, but they propelled Shadow out of the pit and back up to solid ground in a huge burst of fire. The House of Horrors burned down around Shadow as he dashed out to meet his teammates, barely making it out alive. "See, Shadow? I told you not to go back in there.", said Sonic while shaking his head. "Oh please", sneered Shadow. "If it was you caught in that trap, you'd have been fried like Anakin in Revenge of the Sith. The closest attraction to us is the Hall of Mirrors. We're checking that out next. Move out."

Phase 7: Broken Mirrors, Shattered Dreams

Shadow's team entered the Hall of Mirrors, walking quietly and stealthily, staying alert for any sign of traps. After walking a few feet, they had already become confused regarding which way to go. "This place looks like it's designed to confuse us and split us up", Shadow said. "Stay on your guard." As Shadow advanced forward, the uneasy feeling he had only grew greater. Suddenly Sonic turned and yelled "Hey, Espio, wait up!", and began running in a different direction. "What the hell?", grunted Shadow angrily. Silver started running after him. "Don't worry, I'll catch him!", the white hedgehog yelled. "No, you dumb fucks, we're supposed to stay together!", yelled Shadow in a rage. "Goddamn, those guys are impossible." Omega looked around and began scanning the area. "These mirrors are arranged in a pattern designed to deceive the unassisted eye. Proceed with caution", the robot said. "Hmmm, that's right. A robot like Omega wouldn't fall for a simple optical illusion", thought Shadow. "There's no point in waiting around for those jackasses. I'm pretty sure they'll stay alive. Follow me.", ordered the hedgehog. Omega nodded and began traversing the maze of mirrors alongside Shadow. They reached what seemed to be the center of the structure when suddenly, strange dust particles began descending from the ceiling. "This can't be good", said Shadow nervously. Out of the corner of his eye, Shadow saw Knuckles. "What the hell are you doing here? You haven't healed yet!", Shadow yelled. But it looked like Knuckles was too far away to hear him. Shadow began to run toward Knuckles, but Omega called out to him. "A strange phenomenon is interfering with my optical sensors. Advancing further is not advised." Shadow continued to pursur Knuckles, but he reached the end of the corridor and the echidna disappeared. "Damn, it was a fake", muttered Shadow. "Omega, come over here!" He called out to Omega, but he was nowhere to be found.

Shadow had walked right into a trap. He turned right and began walking down a long hallway, but it seemed to have no end. But then something happened that was trippy as fuck. People started appearing on the mirrors, simply staring at Shadow. They had fatal injuries that should have surely killed them but they kept looking at him, unfazed. "What the fuck is this?", thought Shadow. He started running down the hall, when the people started moving and speaking, mostly in unintelligible garbled grunts and shrieks. "Why do these people look familiar", he thought. Suddenly, for some inexplicable reason, the people in the mirrors started reaching out to grab Shadow. "No way!", yelled the hedgehog. He began running down the hallway trying to find a way to escape their grasp, but he seemed to be running down the same path over and over, seeing the same gruesome faces again and again. The people's hellish screams began to grow louder and louder, and Shadow felt like he was going crazy. The voices started to synchronize, screaming "WHYYYYYY! WHYYYYYY!", over and over again. Shadow kept running until he reached a dead end. In the mirror in front of him, Shadow saw a soldier with a large hole through his head. He grabbed Shadow by the neck and yelled "WHYYYYYYYYY! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO KILL MEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Shadow realized that the people in the mirrors were all the people he had killed to this day. "G-Get away from me, you bastard!", Shadow yelled. He broke free from the dead man's grasp and began running back until he saw someone familiar rise from the floor. It was Ripper, looking down at Shadow with a penetrating, immobilizing stare. "Well, look what we have here!", said the hitman with a wide grin. "What the fuck!", Shadow yelled in shock. "You… you should be dead… why are you even here?" Ripper laughed maniacally. "I'm just here to finish the job from earlier", he said. "This park will be your final resting place!" Shadow struggled to move, but his body wasn't responding. "You're falling apart, man", said Ripper as he examined Shadow. "You think you're hot shit and claim to be above the rest when you couldn't even save one friend." "Shut up", replied Shadow in a rage. "Don't make me tear you to pieces again." Ripper just laughed continued his lecture. "Now you're just throwing bitch fits at your friends for supposed "incompetence" because you can't handle the fact that YOU were the one that failed!" Shadow began struggling to escape the invisible chains that bound him. "You shut your mouth, you filthy piece of shit! I'm just itching to beat you to death." Ripper smiled menacingly and said "You're harmless. Just one hedgehog. You wouldn't have made it as far as you did if you didn't have those other bitches backing you up. And that's the reason why you're never making it out of here." Shadow snapped upon hearing these words. _"YOU MOTHER FUCKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRR!"_, Shadow yelled. He broke out of his restraints and lunged at Ripper, but he simply phased right through the hitman. Ripper retreated into a mirror. "You can't even touch me", he said in a condescending tone. "Really, now?", Shadow replied. "Go fuck yourself!", the hedgehog yelled as he punched through the glass. The mirror fell to pieces, and the one standing behind it was none other than Violet.

"So you were the one behind all this", said Shadow to Violet. Violet nodded. "Yes, those were my orders", said the purple hedgehog. "If you were trying to drive me insane, then you might have succeeded… Now get out of my way now, before I fucking dismember you.", said Shadow coldly. Violet shook her head and said "I'm afraid I can't do that Shadow." "Why the fuck not?", Shadow asked. "You know I'm stronger than you. You wouldn't stand a chance against me in real combat!" Violet sighed. "I could let you through, but you would simply die, flailing and screaming in futility. You are not of sound mind now, and you weren't before you arrived here either. Plus, your injuries haven't even healed yet. I doubt you would be able to defeat me right now, much less Nero or Eggman Nega." Shadow was irate. "It doesn't matter if the odds are 100% in that bastard's favor! I'm not going to let him off the hook for having my best friend killed!" Violet shook her head. "So that's what this is about.", she said "I looked into your mind and caught a glimpse of it, but I wasn't completely sure. This is exactly what I warned would happen, Shadow." "Shut the fuck up! You have no idea what I've experienced.", said Shadow, shaking with rage. "Nothing will change the fact that Tesla's dead. And not even killing that bastard will bring him back… but I have to do it. I need to taste fresh blood." Violet smiled. "So you've made up your mind then", she said. Violet could feel the surge of energy emanating from Shadow, as if something deep inside him had awakened. "It seems like you're ready. Fine, you may go." Violet flipped a switch and the mirrors had retracted into the ground, revealing the path into the back room. "Proceed down this passage", Violet said, pointing to a door. "I just received word that another intruder has arrived, so I have to go provide backup." Shadow was surprised at this sudden change of heart. "Thanks, I guess", said the hedgehog cautiously. Violet slipped into a wall without saying a word. Shadow turned on his transmitter to relay a message to the rest of the team. "I've found the passageway to the underground base", announced the hedgehog. "It's near the exit in the hall of mirrors. I'm going on ahead. You guys get your asses over here, ASAP." Shadow ran on ahead and prepared himself to confront his enemies for what he hoped would be the final time. Meanwhile in the underground base, Ragnarok was discussing the next phase of his plan with Nero.

"Can you hear it, Nero? The wheel of fate is turning", Ragnarok said to his loyal companion. "Yes, master", Nero replied as he held a Chaos Emerald in his hand. "Soon, your ambitions will be realized. I will do everything in my power to make sure of it." Ragnarok smiled. "It's been two years and we've come so far since that fateful day", the blue hedgehog said. "Soon this world will be ours. Change is inevitable." Nero put his hand to his chest and stood up. "With the fragment of your power you granted me, soon I will be able to repay the debt I owe to you. If it weren't for you, I would have died that day." Ragnarok laughed. "The old Nero did die that day. But that was when you were reborn. Reborn as a true knight of the New World Order." Nero bowed down in front of Ragnarok and said "The time has come and so have I.", said Nero as he bowed down before Ragnarok. "I shall follow you to the ends of the Earth, Lord Ragnarok." "Then stand up and come with me", said the blue hedgehog. "Let's work toward a future where all sentient beings will be equal."

Phase 8: Massacre

Shadow ran down the passageway and was greeted by a huge number of robots and members of Satan's disciples. The hedgehog smiled a maniacal grin. "Hehehe… it's time…" Eggman Nega's combined army took aim at Shadow. "Commence the assault", yelled a Shadow Android who was hovering in the dashed through the barrage of bullets and kicked a huge stone statue of Eggman Nega statue into the crowd to distract them. He was able to crush a few poor bastards who got hit directly, but his enemies would not falter. "Fire the anti-personnel rocket launchers!", yelled a gang member atop a conveyor belt holding an MBT LAW rocket launcher. A few grunts ran up to him and took aim at Shadow, but Shadow used Chaos Illusion to produce 2 dozen illusory clones to distract them. "Don't be intimidated! Blow that fucker to bits!", yelled a guard. They opened fire with their rocket launchers, and there was a huge explosion; Shadow was nowhere to be found. "I think we got him", the guard said with a smirk. "Really?", a voice said. The guard turned around and saw Shadow standing behind him and yelled "HOLY SHIT! YOU'RE ALIVE!" Shadow disintegrated the guards atop the conveyor belt with a powerful Chaos Blast, and then ran over to the upper floor stairs, but he was greeted by a dozen armed guards packing M16A1 automatic rifles. "Is that all?", Shadow asked in a disappointed tone. "Open fire!", the guard yelled. The guards fired at Shadow, but in a split second Shadow used Chaos Reflector and reflected all of their bullets back at them. All that was left of them was their bloody, riddled corpses. Shadow started laughing, but then he heard something ticking and saw that one of the guards had a bomb on his body. "Shit", muttered Shadow under his breath. Shadow was forced to jump back down to the lower floor to avoid the explosion and the bulk of Eggman Nega's army was waiting there for him. He was surrounded. "Give yourself up", said one gang member pointing 2 pistols at the hedgehog. "If you do, there's a chance we might not kill you. Instead we'll hand you over to Eggman Nega so he can turn you into a cyborg slave." Shadow rolled his eyes. "Was that supposed to convince me?", the hedgehog asked. "What a joke." Shadow warped behind the man and snapped his neck in an instant. "Anyone else want to die? I could do this all day.", said Shadow with extreme arrogance. He bent down and took two combat knives off the dead guy's belt. A bunch of Shadow Androids took aim at Shadow but Shadow just smirked and said "Try me."

"Eliminate the target!" said the androids in unison. Shadow dashed into the crowd at such a high speed, the android's optical sensors couldn't even detect him. He used his knives to cut the androids to pieces with such speed and precision that it looked like they were simply falling apart. In 2 minutes, he had destroyed 40 Shadow Androids without even breaking a sweat. The guards and gang members across from them watched on in shock, trembling with fear. After Shadow finished with the androids, he set his sights on them, walking toward them slowly with the look of insanity in his eyes. One guard yelled "What are you waiting for… shoot!" A few guys opened fire, but shadow warped behind them and sliced through each of their throats. Blood was spraying everywhere, making it hard to see exactly what was going on. "H-holy shit… we're gonna die… we're gonna die!", yelled an exasperated gang member. "You're not wrong about that" said Shadow standing behind him. Just as the man turned around, Shadow sliced off his torso and arms, leaving him on the floor in pieces. A few guards appeared with laser cannons. "He can't reflect laser cannons!", one of them said. "Concentrate your fire!" Shadow smirked. "What makes you think you can even hit me?", the hedgehog said. "FIRE!", the guard yelled. The guards fired huge beams at Shadow causing a huge explosion. Smoke was filling the room. "That's it", said a guard, sighing in relief.

_ "Is it, now?"_, said a voice out of nowhere. The guard realized it was Shadow and broke out in a cold sweat. "Wh-where are you?", the man asked, shaking in fear. "Heads up", Shadow replied. The man turned around and was struck square in the forehead by a knife thrown by Shadow, killing him instantaneously. Then Shadow began his assault on the rest of the gang members, He gruesomely dismembered them one by one; tearing through their flesh with wild abandon. Each of their bloodcurdling screams was hyping him up even more. Shadow was already covered in his enemies' blood when backup arrived. A guard holding an AK-47 yelled "Come on, keep fighting! If you give in to fear, you're already dead! We can still win this battle!" Shadow chuckled. "Battle, you say? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You think that's what this is?" Shadow warped right in front of him, and sliced his head right off his shoulders in an instant while his allies just watched, paralyzed with fear. "This isn't a battle", said Shadow with a twisted smile on his face. _"This is a goddamn massacre."_

Upon hearing those words, all of the other guards in the room began to run for their lives. Shadow began to walk to the corridor connecting to the east sector when he heard someone say "Stop." Shadow turned around and saw Sonic, Silver, and Amy. "That's enough, Shadow. You're out of control", said Sonic angrily. Shadow turned around, frowning. "What the fuck are you babbling about now?", the black hedgehog asked. Sonic started walking toward Shadow. He and his friends could see a dark aura of harted and vengeance surrounding him. "You're completely forgotten your mission", Sonic said. "Now, you're just killing for the sake of killing!" Shadow laughed. "It's necessary to kill when you're facing an enemy like this. They won't hesitate to do the sickest, most twisted, inhuman things to gain an edge in battle, and neither should you. That's just the way it is." Shadow turned away from Sonic and began walking. "I'm going to find Eggman Nega. You're welcome to tag along with me, but if you try to pull any of your "heroic" bullshit and hold me back, then I wont hesitate to strike you down as well." With those words, Shadow ran off into the corridor to face his greatest enemy.

Phase 9: Two of A Kind

Shadow ran as fast as he could through the maze of passageways in the underground sector. He knew that time was of the essence; because even if his forces had the upper hand in this battle, Eggman Nega would have some tricks up his sleeve, because he was a sneaky, devious motherfucker. Walking down a large corridor, Shadow saw a huge steel door at the end, the metaphorical light at the end of the tunnel. Walking up to it slowly, Shadow listened at the door and heard a voice and the sound of machines. "Looks like this is the place", Shadow thought to himself. He kicked the door down and ran into the room , where he saw what looked to be Eggman Nega in a levitation pod with his back to the hedgehog. Without a second thought, Shadow threw his knife directly at the doctor. However a Shadow Android jumped in front of the knife and sacrificed itself for the doctor. Shadow scowled as Eggman Nega turned to face him. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Shadow", he said with a grin. "What brings you here?" Shadow looked at the doctor in surprise and saw that his appearance had changed. His mustache was shorter and more well kept, and he was tall and thin, not fat like the other Eggman. He looked nothing like the Eggman Nega that he once knew, but Shadow had more things to worry about than just that. "Cut the crap. I came here to kill you", said the black hedgehog coldly. A group of Shadow Androids began to surround him, but Eggman Nega raised his hand and told them "Code 0735. Standby for now." Shadow looked puzzled. "What are you planning, you shit-stain?", he asked angrily. "Why are you so hell-bent on destroying my life?" Eggman Nega laughed. "I'm not as obsessed with you as your inflated ego would lead you to believe" , the mad scientist said. "I just did what I did because it made things easier for me." Shadow was enraged. "You… I can't let a psychopath like you live any longer. Prepare to return to nothingness!" But Shadow's words were ignored.

"You're free to leave if you want", Eggman Nega said calmly. "You've already done quite a number on this facility, but I have a contingency plan for this exact situation, and if you stay here, I guarantee you won't be seeing the sun rise tomorrow." Shadow was confused. It almost seemed as if the doctor was showing him mercy. But Shadow wasn't buying it. "SHUT THE FUCK UP!", he yelled in a rage. Shadow's power began to surge and and the ground started to shake. "I'm not going to pass up my one chance to end you. I've come way too far to back down now." Eggman Nega shook his head in what seemed like disappointment. "You know, I have many escape routes in this facility. What will you do if I escape here and set the base to self destruct?", asked the doctor menacingly.

"What do you think, you dumb fuck? I'm going to chase you down across the motherfucking globe if I have to", replied Shadow flippantly. "You must be confident in your abilities", Eggman Nega said sarcastically.

"Aint' no brakes on the Shadowmobile", replied Shadow with an insane grin on his face. For a second, it almost seemed like he was enjoying the situation. Eggman Nega grinned and gave the order "Open fire!", to his androids. But a wall collapsed and crushed some of them right at that exact moment. A huge fireball blew into the room and incinerated the other androids. "Looks like the party's already begun", said Blaze as she walked into the room, with Omega following her. "Target acquired", said the robot as he aimed his cannon at Eggman Nega. "Oh my, it looks like I'm in quite a bind", said the doctor nervously. "You got that right!", said Sonic, with his friends close behind. "You better tell us where the Emeralds are!" Eggman Nega began laughing. "And what exactly will you do if I refuse", he asked in a mocking tone.

"This!", yelled Blaze as she generated a sword of flames in her hand and rushed at Eggman Nega head on. Out of seemingly nowhere, Ragnarok jumped in and blocked Blaze's attack with his bare hands. "Whoa there, hothead. Your opponent is me!", the hedgehog said, pushing her back. Eggman Nega used this distraction to call in more androids and make an escape. "Damn, it he's getting away!", scowled Shadow as he started chasing the doctor down. When Shadow came face to face with the doctor, it seemed like they had reached a dead end. Eggman Nega turned to Shadow and said "I've got you right where I want you." Shadow stayed on guard, but suddenly, a huge section of the wall was pulverized. Shadow jumped back in shock, only to see someone he really didn't expect: Dr. Eggman. Eggman had arrived in his new model robot: the Egg Boxer. It was a modified version of the Egg Breaker the doctor had used during the Black Arms incident: only with a jet propulsion system for fast and precise movement, and a large drill on it's right arm. The doctor looked quite angry. Shadow asked him "What are you doing here?" The doctor simply replied. "I'm here to take him down", pointing at Eggman Nega. Eggman Nega wasn't surprised at all, strangely enough. "So your our mystery intruder, eh?', Eggman Nega said. "Well, no matter. I have this whole situation under control." Eggman scowled. "Don't get cocky", he said. "I've infiltrated your base with the help of my stealth bots, and I've alerted the military to the exact location of this place. They'll be coming any minute now, so you better- Hey! Are you even listening to me?" Eggman Nega seemed to be ignoring him, instead tryping something on the control panel of his levitation pod. He looked up and said. "I was kind of listening, but, to be honest I don't really consider you much of a threat. Eggman was fuming. "You little… You little…!" , stammered the doctor.

"You should watch your step", Eggman Nega said mockingly. But it was too late. Eggman began running over to his future counterpart to attack him, setting off a trapdoor located in the floor, sending him crashing down to the bottom level of the base. "What an incompetent dunce", remarked Eggman Nega. Shadow began walking up to Eggman Nega. "Looks like it's just you and me", the hedgehog said. But the ground began rumbling and Shadow heard a huge crash. "I wouldn't count on that", said the doctor in a menacing tone. "The transformation is now complete."

"Transformation…?", asked a shocked Shadow as the whole base rumbled as if caught in an earthquake. Shadow heard another crash, and then another, until, bursting through the wall, came Metal Shadow. "We meet again, Shadow", said the newly modified android.

Phase 10: Shadow vs Metal Shadow - Round 2

Metal Shadow's appearance had changed quite a bit since his first appearance. The android now more closely resembled Shadow, using the same color scheme. However, he now had bladed demonic-looking wings and a high-powered jet thruster on his back. In addition to that, he now had a reinforced titanium blade mounted above his right wrist. For long range he had a beam emitter on his left hand that could shoot lasers or if necessary, generate a plasma blade from his palm.

"Don't worry, Doctor. I'll take care of him while you retreat", said Metal Shadow in a smug tone. Shadow became enraged at the sight of the android. "You're not the person I came here to kill", said the black hedgehog. "But I don't have any problem with tearing you to shreds along the way." Metal Shadow roled his eyes. "You have a lot of confidence for someone who was defeated by a mere flesh and blood hedgehog like Nero, but I'm far above his level", boasted the prideful android. "Statistically speaking, you're fucked."

Shadow wasn't intimidated one bit. "Having you around is bad for my reputation, so I'm gonna have to kill you right now", he said. "No hard feelings, it's just, there can only be one Ultimate Life-form in this world. Now show me your power, fake hedgehog!" Metal Shadow flew directly at Shadow with his blade extended and narrowly missed his throat. Shadow was stunned at how fast he was moving. "How the hell did you do that?", Shadow asked as he parried Metal Shadow's wrist blade using his knife. Metal Shadow grinned and replied, "It's simple really. "I'm just built for aerodynamics. These wings are made of light, but durable carbon fiber titanium alloy and constructed in a way that will reduce air friction and drag. My main power source is a mini fusion generator which provides power to the super compact turbojet engine on my back. With all these factors combined, I'm capable or traveling at speeds exceeding Mach 6! That's over 2041 meters per second! Do you know what that means Shadow?" Shadow simply yawned. "2041, huh? That's almost equal to the amount of fucks I don't give. Now shut your goddamn mouth so I can kill you." Shadow's harsh words pissed off Metal Shadow and caused him to attack even more mercilessly. He kept swinging at Shadow relentlessly with the intention of dismembering him. "You might be too stupid to perform the calculations yourself, but my new upgrade makes me even faster than Sonic! This is the power of my Second Phase!", the androind yelled furiously. He swung diagonally downwards at Shadow from the air. It missed, but he was able to slice through the steel wall behind Shadow effortlessly. At that moment, Shadow suddenly had a revelation. "You're not as threatening as you make yourself out to be", the hedgehog said. "What are you talking about?", stammered Metal Shadow. Shadow grinned. "It doesn't matter how fast you are on paper, if you can only travel straight ahead. In a confined space like this, you're only marginally faster than me. And I've gotten used to your speed now. Metal Shadow scowled in a rage. "I told you not to underestimate me!", yelled the android. "If it's speed you want, then I'll show you speed!". Metal Shadow activated his jet thruster and dashed straight at Shadow, grabbed him by the neck, and smashed him through 4 walls. Shadow was pretty banged up, but he managed to kick himself free. When he did, he found himself in a long, narrow corridor. He knew Metal Shadow had planned this. Not even waiting for Shadow to get up, the android rushed at Shadow with a flurry of supper fast slashes, whish Shadow struggled to dodge in the narrow corridor. In addition, Metal Shadow had become increasingly good at not leaving openings. Shadow didn't even have time to strike back, caught in this deadly barrage of razor-sharp steel.

But something wasn't right. Metal Shadow's fighting style seemed… off. "I know I've seen someone fight like this, but why is it so familiar?'. the hedgehog said under his breath. Shadow finally managed to push Metal Shadow back and regain some ground. Metal Shadow grinned. "The reason why it seems so familiar…", said the android with a gleam in his eyes "is because it's your fighting style!" Shadow was dumbfounded. "What? How the fuck is that even possible!?", yelled the black hedgehog. "Let me explain", began Metal Shadow. "The androids that you were fighting the past few weeks had cameras installed in that fed battle data directly to Eggman Nega in real time. I analyzed the data and used it to augment my systems to the point where I'd be able to emulate you perfectly.

"You still didn't tell me how the fuck that's even possible!", Shadow yelled in a rage. Metal Shadow just laughed. "It was all thanks to the to a revolutionary bit of technology that Eggman Nega came across. The **S**uper-**I**ntelligent **G**igabit **M**echanical **A**wareness system, or SIGMA for short. It's a program Dr. Eggman developed some time ago. Eggman Nega went back in time to shortly after Neo Metal Sonic was defeated, and recovered this program from his wreckage. However, he reconfigured it for much greater efficiency. With it, I am a constantly evolving sentient mechanical being. The barrier between organic lifeforms and machines has finally been broken!"

"Well, that's all I needed to know. Time to get back to dismantling you", said Shadow coldly. But Metal Shadow wasn't gonna take any more of his shit. "I grow tired of you", the android said. "I will break you down to your most primordial atoms and prove myself as the strongest being in this universe!" The android pointed his hand at Shadow and Chaos Energy welled up in his palm. "Take this!", he yelled. "CHAOTIC CANNON!" Shadow knew he had little chance of dodging a long range beam attack in this narrow corridor but he had no time to think. Metal Shadow fired a huge crimson beam from his palm, scorching everything ahead of him. The walls were melting from the heat and everything in the hallway was burned to ashes. Metal Shadow knew for certain that he had won. Nothing could survive his most destructive attack. "HAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAA! I did it! _I AM THE ULTIMATE!"_ He looked down at some ashes in front of his feet. "Such an inferior being could never stand a chance against me."

_"You are one loudmouth motherfucker, do you know that?"_

A voice sounded in the empty corridor. Metal Shadow couldn't believe his auditory sensors. A section of wall collapsed and out came Shadow, bloody and briused, but seemingly in decent fighting condition. "How in the world did you survive that attack?", sputtered Metal Shadow. "That's not possible! An ion cannon of that magnitude should…"

"Shut your damn mouth.", said Shadow coolly. "Your beam attack can't kill me if it doesn't hit."  
"No way… That had to hit you.", stammered the android. "There's no way you could have escaped that in this.." Suddenly Metal Shadow's eye caught a glimpse of a shattered window ahead of him to his right. It became obvious what really happened. "Well, that was just sheer luck, hedgehog. And you took some damage going through that window, too. By the way you look right now, I'd calculate that you only have 30 minutes of strenuous physical activity until you collapse from blood loss."

Shadow grinned. "I'll finish this in 5 seconds", he said decisively. Metal Shadow began charging his attack. "Target locked-on. I won't miss this time",said the android. He pointed his laser at Shadow, but Shadow disappeared. He had warped behind Metal Shadow and he was wide open for a surprise attack. "What the… I can't dodge this!", Metal Shadow said in a panic. Shadow used the inertia from his teleport to power up his kick and he smashed the android's right arm, knocking it right off. Metal Shadow had panicked and fired his laser upward, causing a section of the ceiling to come crashing down on him.

"That was pretty sad", said Shadow. "You rely too much on your little calculations and statistics, but when it comes down to it, you're just not up to my level." The android struggled to pull himself free from the rubble. "Also, you seem pretty mad. Like you hold some kind of grudge against me or something." Metal Shadow stood up and faced Shadow. "Of course I do", said the android. "After all, you killed me once!"  
"What the hell does that mean?", Shadow asked. "You nearly killed me the first time we met." Metal Shadow chuckled. "It was about 6 months ago. I had almost taken over the entire multiverse, but three hedgehogs defeated me and left me for dead floating outside the boundaries of space and time."  
Shadow still had no idea what he was talking about. "I've never even met you before. What are you even talking about?", Shadow asked in an annoyed tone. Metal Shadow simply replied. "I'm the one who released the Iblis Trigger and sent the world spiraling into chaos. It's me, Shadow. I am Mephiles!"

Phase 11: Evil Has A Name And It's Name Is Mephiles

"That's not even possible! You were _ERASED FROM THE TIMESTREAM!_", yelled an annoyed Shadow. "You shouldn't even exist, goddammit!" "Metal Shadow looked at Shadow deadly serious and said. "You may be right. Even I don't know how I survived. All I remember was my shattered body floating in a realm outside of the space-time continuum for what seemed like an eternity. All I can remember is endless pain and agony, and then… I met him."

"Eggman Nega", muttered Shadow.

"You're right", replied the android. "He was running a test of his time-travel machine, but there was a glitch in the system, which sent him to my location. He found me and brought me back to his lab for further study. As I slipped in and out of consciousness, he asked me to tell him everything I knew. I told him I would need a new body in order to survive. The Doctor accepted my offer, and extracted my brain and spinal cord to install in a new mechanical body custom tailored to bring out the full potential of my chaos powers. I told him that you, Sonic, and Silver were the 3 greatest threats to his dream of world domination… especially you."

Shadow turned and looked at Metal Shadow. "You must be lying. Wasn't it you who killed Nega in another timeline?", he asked. "Why the hell would he team up with you?" "Oh, but that wasn't me", Metal Shadow explained. "Iblis killed Eggman Nega, not me. Iblis, though powerful, is simply a mindless beast. Me however, well I have an intellect similar to the doctor himself", he said boastfully. Shadow was about to call Metal Shadow out on his bullshit, but he suddenly sensed something strange. He could sense the Chaos Emeralds on the floor above him, but one Emerald was moving away from the others. "Dammit, it must be Eggman Nega escaping", thought Shadow. With no time to lose, Shadow jumped up into the hole Metal Shadow blasted through the ceiling. "Don't you dare follow me", Shadow warned his robotic doppleganger, "I've already disarmed you, if you fuck with me again, I'm gonna behead you." With that said, Shadow ran as fast as he could through the maze of hallways in the underground facility. He tracked down the lone emerald signal to a dark room, but when the lights went on, he got the shock of his life. Standing a few feet in front of him was none other than Nero, with an Emerald in one hand and unconscious Charmy in the other.

"What the hell did you do to him you bastard?", yelled Shadow. "Nothing… yet", said the gray hedgehog with a sinister grin. He laid Charmy down and injected him with a syringe and then suddenly Charmy started convulsing violently and his eyes turned green with his skin taking on a metallic sheen. Espio ran into the room panting but then realized he was too late. "Damn, I couldn't get to him in time", the chameleon said angrily, slamming his fist on the wall. Suddenly Charmy stood up and started attacking Espio. "Charmy stop, I'm your friend, I don't wanna kill you!", yelled Espio, but it was like talking to a brick wall. Charmy was gone.

Shadow didn't know what to believe. "Don't tell me he was… roboticized…!", the hedgehog said in a panic. Nero showed emotion for once, laughing and said "No, it's not that, but the little bastard IS under Eggman Nega's control. You see, we crated a virus that replicates the way Tesla could intercept wireless signals, only in reverse. Now, Eggman Nega's commands are being transmitted directly to Charmy's brain, completely overriding his capacity for logical thought! He's nothing but a mindless killing machine now!" SHadow was so overcome with rage that he dashed at Nero, but Nero saw it coming and delivered a bone-shattering kick to Shadow's face. "You won't beat be if you lose your temper like that!", taunted the gray hedgehog. Shadow struggled to get up when he saw that Nero was running away, Emerald in hand. Shadow picked himself up and began chasing Nero until they both arrived at a room containing a time travel portal. "You can't escape me!", said Shadow. "Not in a million years."

"Oh really?",said Nero condescendingly. At that moment, Ragnarok came crashing through the wall, with Sonic following close behind. "Apparently those two were involved in a fight", Shadow thought to himself. But that distraction allowed Nero to slip into the portal undetected. Shadow ran up to the portal and saw something that made him drop to his knees in dismay. "This… can't be happening…", said a distraught Shadow. Gazing into the portal, he saw that Nero's destination was 51 years ago in the past, about the same time that Maria was killed. "What possible reason would he have to travel back to this point in time…?"

_"Heads up!"_

Shadow couldn't afford to mope around, because Ragnarok just fired a bone spike at him. Shadow was able to dodge it, but it hit the time machine and caused a short circuit in the system. The image on the portal was flickering and flashing; Shadow knew he couldn't afford to wait. "Whatever Nero is planning to do in the past, I have to stop him!", said Shadow resolutely. "Shadow, wait!", called Sonic."It could be a trap!" Shadow didn't think twice, however, and leapt into the portal without a second thought. Sonic ran after him, but the time machine shut off due to the electrical disturbance, sealing off Shadow's window into the past. He was on his own now.


End file.
